Bleach::Hacked
by Kyoshi Slickfish
Summary: AU. Trading in Zanpakuto for computers, convicted hacker Ichigo has to outsmart Aizen to solve the mystery behind a deadly virus and clear his friends of police accusations. Getting the girl in the meantime also proves a fun challenge. IchiRuki
1. A Hacker's Turnabout

**HUGE DISCLAIMER. i don't own Bleach or Hackers. this story is everything i don't usually do with fiction. this is a novelization of the 1995 movie "Hackers", with Bleach characters taking the roles, the dialogue is the same with a bit of tweaking in the plot. seeing as the technologies of the mid-90's are completely different from today, and i also don't know correct usage of computer jargon, just don't let it take away from the story i am trying to convey. i had writer's block while writing "Never Let This Go", i just wanted to write something else for a change, and this idea popped into my head when i had this movie on in the background. the main character reminded me of Ichigo in a way, plus i thought it would be a very different setting with a lot of opportunities for character mischief. this is meant to be ooc, have short chapters for quick reading, and just written for fun. if you have some time, check out the originial movie; it's classic.**

* * *

**Bleach/Hacked**

**Chapter One**

**A Hacker's Turnabout**

"Ready? GO!!"

Two dozen heavily armed agents ran through the apartment home in downtown Tokyo. Although the inhabitants of the skyline apartment were under heavy undercover surveilance for the last two weeks, this time the police allowed a crowd to gather on the outside of their barriers while they made their arrest. A barrage of noice descended upon the building, a mix of feet travelling across the limolium floors, the commands of the lead officers, and surprised shrieks of bystanders.

"Go go go go! There is no threat, arrest the target!"

They kicked down the front door to the apartment, shards of wood flying out into the living room of a middle class family.

"What are you doing?!" screamed the mother in the kitchen. Two officers detained her while five more pointed their guns in her face.

"Don't move! Get the guy upstairs, break anything in your way!"

Ten soldiers filled the hallway that led to the bedrooms deeper within the apartment.

"Break it down."

"Stop it! My son is in there! What are you doing?!"

"Go go go! He's in there!"

The woman's screams were loud, but quickly drowned out by the sound of a battering ram crushing the wooden door.

* * *

There were more news cameras in the courtroom than actual people. The media couldn't stay away from covering the biggest court hearing of the year. Inside the courtroom, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth could care less that this story and his performance would be broadcasted across the globe, even as far away as America. All he wanted was a guilty verdict, and he didn't care who the defendant was.

"The accused, Kurosaki Ichigo, also known under the online alias as Zangetsu, has repeatedly committed criminal acts of a malicious and terrozing nature. Although he possesses a superior intelligence, Kurosaki uses his gifts to a destructive and antisocial end. He created and released a computer virus that crashed fifteen thousand and seven computer systems, afflicting the business and trade district of Tokyo, single-handedly causing a five point drop in our local economy."

Slouched in the hard wooden seat, the accused tugged at the tight collar of his brown suit. No eleven year-old liked being confined in starchy clothing on a Saturday morning. Kurosaki Ichigo sat next to his mother Masaki, who kept a firm hand on his knee. Somehow, the silent gesture comforted him, even though he felt like he belonged with the dirt on the bottom of Masaki's shoes. On the other side of his mother, Ichigo's father Isshin, sat sobbing into the palm of his hands. At least his two younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin, were not present in the silent courtroom to witness his disgrace. Or at least, the unmasking of his alter ego to the whole world.

Ichigo watched the grey-haired prosecutor with the purple coat take a slight bow before returning to the desk on his side of the court room. He felt a frown tug at the ends of his lips as he watched the pompous man take his seat.

The judge at the front of the coutroom banged his gavel loudly on the counter. Although the judge was bald, he managed to grow a lot of hair on the southern end of his face, through his beard. He cleared his throat. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I pronounce you guilty of crimes accused and hereby fine your family one hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

Ichigo's father sobbed louder, causing his mother to elbow him in the side.

"I sentence you to probation, the terms of which incluse that you are forbidden to own or operate a computer, nor a telephone line, until your eighteenth birthday."

The young Ichigo heard a sigh pass through his mother's lips. He felt like crying. Instead, he let his frown surface on his face, the creases almost touching his jawline. Ichigo never planned to execute anything malignant with the knowledge he possessed, and above all of the things he was ashamed of, he hated the fact that he had hurt his mother.

* * *

**like i said, i was bored and had writer's block, so i just needed to explore a different subject for the time being. i hope you have fun reading this story, as i had fun bringing it to life through the world of Bleach.**


	2. Burned from Battle

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. this story is meant to be ooc, have very short chapters, and just fun to read.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Burned from Battle**

Seven years later.

He didn't know why, but for some reason, Ichigo had dreamt about his court hearing from so long ago. Although it seemed more like a dream rather than the usual nightmare, he didn't want to dwell on a time they had moved so far from, literally.

Ichigo stretched his legs after the four-hour car ride to Karakura Town. Music blasted in his ears while his eyes travelled up to the new place he had to call "home", but a waving movement from his mother caught his attention. He pulled back his headphones before his mother would forcefully remove them herself.

"Get your things out of the car and unpack, kiddo," Kurosaki Masaki said with a smile. She ruffled her son's hair, although she had to reach up high to do so. "I'll start dinner."

Ichigo nodded and waited until his mother was out of sight before returning his headphones over his ears. Most of his things would arrive later in the week with the moving truck, but Ichigo had his most prized possessions with him in the car. Before he could reach back in the car for his briefcase, his mother called out to him once more.

"Hey kiddo, what are you doing tonight?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'll probably take over a tv station later though," Ichigo replied tonelessly. "It's not like I know what there is to do in this exciting town."

Masaki smiled at her son and tossed him the car keys. "Just don't stay up too late okay? You start school tomorrow."

Ichigo nodded before he turned his back on his mother. Ichigo never liked to frown at her because a smile always graced her lips. Instead, he kept himself occupied with emptying the car. He supposed that school was a normal part of an everyday kid's life, but hell...he was far above normal.

* * *

Later that night, Ichigo pretended to go into the kitchen for a glass of water. Sipping on what he aquired, he quietly strode past his mother's bedroom door. Like clockwork, the light clicked off at ten o'clock. For some reason, he felt less guilty at night, when he knew she was sleeping.

Ichigo unfolded the screen to his precious lap top. He ran his fingers along the screen before they found their place on the keyboard. One week ago, it had been seven years since he was allowed to use a computer, and Ichigo had spent every free minute since his eighteenth birthday reaquainting himself with the technologies that had changed so much since his reign as Zangetsu. Right now, it was time for fun and not practice.

He typed the familiar codes and entered the domain of the local Karakura Television studios. They never showed what he wanted to watch when he wanted to watch it. The same news that had been running since seven earlier that evening wasn't very entertaining for a teenager his age. Ichigo wanted to watch some anime, some old samurai epic movies, or even some porn, he didn't care. There was only one thing he cared about.

_That I can control everything around me._

The keyboard clicked with each key Ichigo pressed. He looked out of the corner of his eye towards his television set.

"The latest celebrity gossip includes an affair between-"

"Stupid," Ichigo growled. He pressed the "Enter" key. "No wonder society is getting stupider."

When he finished his sentence, the channel buzzed with a second of static before the classic Bruce Lee movie "Enter the Dragon" started to play on the screen. Ichigo reached underneath his desk and grabbed a can of what was supposed to be an iced coffee drink, Mr. Coffee, but since his mini-fridge was still in transit from his old apartment, he settled with it at room temperature. Suddenly, right before Bruce Lee was about to kick some ass, the channel switched from the martial arts movie to a game show rerun. Ichigo's first instinct was that the network changed the programming to what it was supposed to be, but upon checking the time, he realized that the station would have just returned to the news.

"What-?" he asked himself, but before he could finish his question, something flashed on his laptop screen.

**U HAZ TREAD ON MAH DOMAIN & NOW MUST SUFFER. WHO R U?**

Ichigo frowned. All he really wanted to do was watch television without any interruptions. He accepted the chat connection with that had popped up with the new window and started to type.

**ZANGETSU.**

"Hmm," he mumbled before taking a sip of his coffee drink. Ichigo erased what he typed.

**CRASH OVERRIDE. WHO WANTS TO KNOW?**

Ichigo closed the chat window and returned to the television matrix. He retyped his command for the Bruce Lee movie, hit Enter, and was pleased to see that his program returned to his television screen. Then, an impressive screen wash took over his screen. It looked like all the windows were incinerated by fire from the bottom to the top.

**ACID BURN. LEAVE B4 U R EXPUNGED.**

"Unbelievable," Ichigo muttered at the screen. His eyes weren't deceiving him. "It's a hacker!"

Static erupted on his television screen again but this time the channel didn't return to the game show, but rather there were two Americans on some sort of talk show. Ichigo's eye twitched. He didn't bother to respond through text, but went back to his connection to the Karakura station. Ichigo changed the program to an anime show. A few seconds later, it switched to a fashion show. The duel went on for several minutes.

A game show to the news.

The local baseball game to a black and white movie.

A new window popped up on Ichigo's screen. **I WILL SWAT U LIKE THE FLY U R.**

Ichigo ignored the message to continue changing the station's programming and try to track the ISP of Acid Burn. His fingers swept over the keyboard, remembering every pattern and acknowleding codes Ichigo had memorized over the seven years he was not able to execute the commands.

The screen changed from the weather report to an infomercial.

Another pop-up appeared. **I WILL SNAP UR BACK LIKE A TOOTHPICK.**

"Really Acid Burn?" Ichigo growled at the screen. The pop-ups were distracting him, and he let his frustration get the best of him. He accepted the chat.

**MESS WITH THE BEST, DIE LIKE THE REST.**

Ichigo quickly switched the window back to the connection to Karakura tv. He typed in another command, securing the program back to the original Bruce Lee movie. To his surprise, it stayed on the martial arts programming with no further interruptions. Ichigo laughed to himself. He leaned back in his desk chair, gripping his coffee drink can. Ichigo's hands slightly vibrated at the speed he typed at. Although he was slightly annoyed that he had missed a good portion of his movie, Ichigo smirked at the fact that he had defeated his invisible enemy.

A beep from his laptop told him otherwide.

**YOU ARE TERMINATED.**

As soon as Ichigo finished the sentence, the light in his room disappeared as his television turned off. His eyes darted from the tv set back to his laptop screen, which subsequently cleared its screen of any internet connection. Acid Burn had won.

"Well shit on me!" Ichigo growled before he shut his lap top closed.


	3. First Day of School

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. this story is meant to be ooc, have short chapters, and just fun to read. enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**First Day of School**

Masaki pulled out a picture frame that held a photo of her three children. This precious keepsake immortalized Ichigo's elusive smile, as she hadn't really seen it in the last seven years. The mother took a few minutes rest to admire the picture, exhausted from unpacking the few boxes they managed to pack in their small car. Rustling from the direction of her only son's bedroom caught her attention.

"Good morning kiddo," she greeted with a smile. "Did you unpack your things yet?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yup."

"I assumed it took you all night because I heard sounds coming from your room at three in the morning."

He ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Can this wait until both of my eyes are open please?"

The phone rang, breaking up the conversation, and Ichigo took the opportunity to run across the hall into his bathroom. He could still hear his mother talking from beyond the door.

"Dear, do you think it's possible to cut only the electricity to his room? Ichigo's been playhing with his computer all night for a week straight." There was a quick pause. "I suppose he could be playing with himself, yes. I should ask him then. Ichigo! You like girls right?"

He rolled his amber eyes. "Of course I do, but I just haven't found one as charming as you mother!"

Masaki giggled. She enjoyed teasing her son when he took himself too seriously and returned her attention back to her husband on the telephone. "Isshin, give our girls my love. You can have some too dear."

She hung up the receiver before she let out a long sigh. Although the living arrangement wasn't the optimum solution, the Kurosaki family needed the money. They decided that Isshin and their youngest, twin daughters would stay in Tokyo while he ran his family's clinic, while Masaki took a job offer in the suburbs of Karakura Town as the Head Nursing Supervisor at the local hospital. No one suggested it to him, but Ichigo insisted that he went with his mother for the length of time that she would be away.

Ichigo finished his shower in peace and got dressed for school. He stuffed his messenger bag with a single folder filled with looseleaf paper and tucked his skateboard under his arm. He kissed his mother on the cheek before exiting the apartment.

* * *

Karakura High School wasn't too far from his apartment, and Ichigo was glad to wake up with the morning ride. He wasn't too thrilled to arrive at the school and realize that Karakura required uniforms for their students. He ignored the stares of the other teenagers littering the front yard, and used up further concentration when he thought that they moved away every time he neared a group to ask them for directions.

Ichigo looked at the signs above the countless classrooms inside the multi-level building. He figured that the principal's office would be somewhere on the first floor and kept his eyes peeled for something that looked like an office. Ichigo didn't walk too far when he hit something with his shoulder.

"Hey watch where you're going!" came a voice.

Turning around to see who he had hit, Ichigo met eyes with a tall student with broad shoulders and tattoos covering most of his visible skin. Surely such audacious tattoos weren't allowed in the school, but he ignored that fact to take in that the student had bright red hair pulled back atop his head. The student poked Ichigo in the chest, one of his biggest pet peeves. "What are you looking at freak?" he hissed.

Ichigo glared back at him. "Who are you calling a freak? You should look in the mirror dude."

The red-haired student made a move to grab Ichigo's collar when a teacher bellowed from the doorway of his classroom. "Hey break it up kids before you both end up at the principal's office."

Ichigo threw another deadly look towards his opponent before turning a cold shoulder to him. "Actually sir, I'm looking for the principals office, so I'll accept your threat."

The teacher looked at him strangely before leaning back into his classroom. He pulled out the emergency exit map from the back of his door and pointed out the route to the principal's office. He also gave Ichigo a bright yellow piece of paper. "And take this, it's a hall pass. The next time I see you wandering the halls during class time, you better have one."

Ichigo nodded and strolled over to where he needed to be.


	4. The Girl and The Ruse

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. this story is meant to be ooc, have short chapters, and just fun to read. enjoy!**

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**Chapter Four**

**The Girl and The Ruse**

Ichigo's neck started to hurt as he poured over the pile of papers the receptionist told him to fill out. It didn't help that the office was void of any tables for him to write on, so Ichigo took a seat seemingly too small for him and began to write.

"Do you have your transfer forms?"

Too engrossed over listing his allergies, which were none, Ichigo ignored the voice he heard.

"It's a relatively straightforward question," it continued.

Ichigo rolled his eyes before looking up. When he did, he was met with the steely violet-blue eyes of a rather short girl. Her gaze absolutely stunned Ichigo as he drowned in the lavender pools, which were set on a milky pale face framed by jet black hair and other small facial features. She had her arms crossed over her small frame and did not smile. Ichigo wondered about the things he could do to get the girl to smile, and suddenly, he had to shift in his seat.

"Do you speak Japanese?" she asked in English, arching her eyebrow.

"Sorry," Ichigo croaked. Not his smoothest moment. "You said you wanted...?"

"I want your transfer forms," she replied, straightening up when she finally heard the strange orange-haired kid reply. Perhaps the bleach seeped into his brain. The girl took the stack of forms he had filled out and fingered through them quickly. She turned around, started to walk away, and Ichigo eyed her entire form. The girl wasn't too curvy, but Ichigo always figured the best presents needed a little unwrapping. His eyes grazed the bottom of the hem of her dress, cursing the fact that it didn't hike up enough when she spun around. The last thought snapped him out of his daydream.

"Are you coming?" she said, her eyes piercing him either because that was how they always looked or because she caught him staring at her legs.

Ichigo put on his best frown, grabbed his things, and followed the girl out into the hall.

* * *

"The gym is through there, and the cafeteria is right there," the girl narrated, rather disinterestedly. She tried to ignore that the new guy was only looking in her direction, and she stopped in front of a classroom. "This is your class."

Ichigo looked at the door, and when he turned back to the girl, she shoved his papers in his face. When he organized them, Ichigo thought he caught an amused smirk from the girl. "My class," he repeated. "You mean that I'm not in your class, the same class of..."

"Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia," she replied. "And no, you're not in my class."

Rukia spun on her heels, once again making her dress swirl around her. Ichigo would not be distracted. "Give me time," he called after her.

She ignored his comment when another kid appeared around the corner. He wore a black leather jacket that matched his dark hair. "Hey Rukia, you showing the new guy around?" Even this voice sounded smooth.

"Yeah," Ichigo piped in, showing that he obviously could hear their conversation.

"You should tell him about the pool," the kid replied before disappearing just as fast as he appeared. Ichigo wondered if he was actually going to his class, or even worse, if he was going to Rukia's class.

"Pool?"

Rukia gave him a look over her shoulder. Her eyes looked absolutely mysterious and smoldering from that angle. She pointed right beyond Ichigo. "There's an Olympic-sized swimming pool up on the roof. Only seniors are allowed to use it, so I guess you're good to go. You take the stairs over there."

"Sounds stupid," Ichigo replied. Rukia didn't respond, so he watched her walk away. He called out to her once more. "Thanks!"

* * *

Ichigo pushed open the door.

"Hey, hold the door open!"

But it was too late. Ichigo had already walked a good five feet away from the rooftop door, due to his long legs. The door slammed behind him, and Ichigo was left with the stares of a dozen other kids on the roof of the school. The one who had called out to him looked absolutely livid. Ichigo understood his frustration.

"No pool," he mumbled, a frown tugged at his lips.

Ichigo turned around and pushed on the door handle. Of course if the door opened from the outside, then he wouldn't have been met up with the other kids stuck on the roof. Then again, he wouldn't have been stuck on the roof if it weren't for people like Kuchiki Rukia. Ichigo turned around and punched the metal door. The echo of the hit resounded, but not as loud as the thunder that echoed throughout the sky over Karakura Town.

* * *

Ichigo figured that the high school kept their air conditioning on high, since each soaked piece of clothing managed to stick to his skin to slowly lower his body temperature. He hated the squeaking sound the rubber soles of his sneakers made on the linoleum floors because the squawking wasn't loud enough to drown out the sounds of Rukia's giggles as he trudged past.

"Oh shit!" he heard Rukia gasp. "He found the pool!"

* * *

**heh, i like my Rukia sassy. i'm having so much fun writing her in this role. i posted the first 4 chapters really quick, so if anyone sees grammar errors, please send me a line. i'll revise them later, but i just wanted to get these chapters out as celebration for the 4th of July! Happy Independence Day to my American friends!**


	5. Those Who Play the Game

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. this story is meant to be ooc, have short chapters, and a fun write for me.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**Those Who Play the Game**

Luckily Ichigo had dried off by his sixth period, which happened to be the last period of the day. He slouched in his seat in the overcrowded computer lab, ignoring the latest window that happened to pop open on every screen around him. There were two skeletons engaging in what would have been lewd acts, if the skeletons had an epidermus. He wished the local hackers and their preference for window pop-ups would leave him alone. The act of discovering another hacker, however, encouraged Ichigo that it wasn't impossible to use the relatively out-dated and very basic software of the stock computers for a successful hack.

"I'll be subbing for the usual computer lab teacher who was arrested for attacking a cartoon mascot at a theme park," the teacher droned on. His lackluster voice and unhappy face clearly projected his disinterest in his job, and the teacher did not bother to stop any of the class's personal activities that happened right in front of him. He just kept reading from the manual, probably hoping that if he just read through the lesson, the class period would also end. "I know some of you kids may have computers at home, but these are school property. I don't want to find your gum stuck to them or any doodles on the hardware either. Okay, here we go. Chapter one, designing graphical interface..."

"Yo Renji, make them do it doggie style," one student next to Ichigo said. He had to turn around to say it, and therefore, the culprit had to have been sitting in the row as Ichigo. Busy with his own business, Ichigo didn't bother to turn around, at least, not for the time being.

The request came to fruition in the window behind the one Ichigo was currently working in. Apparently the hacker disabled the commant to close or minimize the window, but at least he allowed the user push it to the background. Ichigo's fingers worked busily, the noise of keys clicking a soothing sound for his ears. Public school records were the easiest systems to hack and navigate through, since your average person performing basic secretarial work had to use them for general operations, and Ichigo found the files he needed in five minutes.

**Kuchiki Rukia, matriculate. Class A4.**

Ichigo copied the identical class schedule into his own record.

**Kurosaki Ichigo, transfer. Promoted to class A4.**

Satisfied with achieving his goal, the newly-promoted transer suddenly noticed a familiar reflection on his computer screen. He turned his head to see the red-haired kid he had almost fought in the morning staring at his screen. He didn't know whether the onlooker understood what was happening on his screen, but Ichigo glared at him before turning back to his own business. He logged out of the school system and booted up an online pool site, figuring that he could make some money before the end of the class period.

Although the new kid didn't know his name, Abarai Renji decided to let his sour attitude slide after seeing what he managed to peek at on Ichigo's screen. It was only a glimpse, but Renji could spot a hack anywhere, and a hack concerning one of his closest friends warranted investiagtion.

* * *

The last bell of the school day rang, and the extra twenty dollars from online pool also comforted Ichigo. His messenger bag was still damp, but he figured he could throw it in the dryer when he got home. Ichigo mounted his skateboard and started to push off when he noticed the red-haired guy heading towards him. Ichigo nodded calmly, not wanting to start a fight, and the kid returned the gesture.

"So what's your interest in Kuchiki Rukia?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Ichigo noticed that the same tattoos on his forehead ran all the way down to his wrists. "Is is academic...purely sexual...?"

A red tinge washed over Ichigo's cheeks. He shook his head. "Homicidal."

The tattooed dude smiled. He reached up and touched the sunglasses that rested at the top of his head. "What's up dude, I'm Maru. The normal people call me Renji." Ichigo's expression remained blank. "As in Zabimaru, the King of Apes? I monkey around on the net. I know you play the game, dude."

Ichigo frowned. He never considered what he knew as a game, although he acknowlegded that a lot of the things he did with his computer he did for his own amusement. Furthermore, since he was so young when he started hacking, Ichigo never stopped to wonder if there were other people doing the same thing, especially since he hadn't been on a computer in seven years before this week. Suddenly another, much smaller and scrawny kid, ran up to the two of them. It looked like he had bags under his eyes, as if he spent way too much time at night on the computer instead of sleeping.

"RenjiRenjiRenjiRenjiRenjiRenjiRenjiRenji," he repeated with each step. "DudeDudeDudeDudeDudeDudeDudeDudeDude-"

Without warning, Renji shot out his fist and punched the smaller kid in the chest, instantly knocking the wind out of his small frame. "Hanatarou, if you "dude" me one more time, I am going to slap the shit out of you, got it?!" Renji hissed. "And you need to stop letting your mom dress you kid."

Renji steadied Hanatarou, who recovered a regular breathing pattern, before he reached into his back pocket to produce a brightly colored flyer. He held it out towards Ichigo. "Check this-"

"I need a handle man," Hanatarou managed to choke out, interrupting Renji's sentence, and their conversation, again. "I don't have an identity until I come up with a handle."

"And you're not going to have a pulse if you keep cutting me off," growled Renji. He turned back to Ichigo and successfully passed the flyer to the new kid. "Check it, Friday night."

Renji walked away without another word, Hanatarou trailing his heels. The flyer didn't display anything besides the word "Sereitei" and an address. Ichigo looked up, and although the pair were across the school yard, he could hear Hanatarou spouting aliases he wanted to use for hacking.


	6. Who's on Top

**Disclaimer: i don't own Bleach or Hackers. this story is meant to be ooc, have short chapters (for quick reading, ha!), and just be fun.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Who's on Top**

"Please deposit five dollars for the first minute," the automatic operator voice played through the pay phone. Renji took out a microrecorder, held it up the receiver, and played a series of different tones on the player. It successfully registered, and Renji heard the first ring when he pressed his ear to the headset. "Thank you."

"No, thank you," Renji replied to no one in particular. He wondered why people needed cell phones, since pay phones were much more useful to him. His eyes caught Ichigo easily when he walked through the entrance to Sereitei, the hottest arcade and hang out spot in Karakura. It was hard to miss the hair that was just as brightly colored as his own. Renji waved at Ichigo, but the transfer student's attention was caught somewhere else.

* * *

Rukia was down to her last man. In the middle of the Sereitei sat the largest video game, which took up a ten foot by ten foot projection screen, and Rukia ruled it. However tonight, for some reason, she wasn't playing her best game, and Rukia lost her last man at the end of the twelfth level. She smirked as she watched her name and latest score of a little over one million points shoot up to the top of the high score list, reassured that no one else could touch her as the best player in Sereitei. Other "Kuchiki Rukia" filled up all of the top ten scores.

"That's a nice score," Ichigo said loudly as he made his way right behind Rukia on the platform. He ignored the sign that said that only one person could stand there at a time. He lowered his mouth to the crook of her ear. "For a girl."

Rukia felt more agitated than excited by Ichigo's presence. "Think you could do better?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, their faces centimeters apart.

"I'd love to give it a go," Ichigo grinned before he took over the platform with his much larger body.

Rukia remained directly behind him, eyeing his technique at the game controls. There was no way anyone could beat her at the game.

"Is this kid bothering you, Rukia?" called a voice. Ichigo registered it as the same voice that mentioned the pool on the roof on his first day at school. Rukia looked up to see Shiba Kaien coolly leaned over the edge of the mezzanine level above her and Ichigo. She admired Kaien's strong profile, his slick black hair, mesmorizing eyes...then Ichigo's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Sorry, can i get some room please?"

Rukia scowled at his confidence, and Kaien saw the disgusted look on her face. He waved towards his position upstairs. "Why don't you come up here, Rukia?" he said.

Rukia took one last look at Ichigo's screen, noticing that he had already made his way to the fifth level in the short amount of time he had already been playing. She walked away, being sure to nudge him with her shoulder when she left. Rukia climbed the stairs and eased herself into Kaien's arms, although she kept her back to him so she could watch the screen. She refused to smile, even though Kaien's lips managed to work their magic on her neck with light butterfly kisses.

"He's good," Kaien whispered onto her skin, causing Rukia to shiver. She turned to face him straight on, and the very suave Kaien claimed her mouth with his. His expert tongue roamed Rukia's mouth, moving in the ways he knew she loved, while his hands caressed her lower back. Her throaty moans let Kaien know she loved what he was doing to her.

Renji rolled his eyes when he saw his childhood friend making out with Shiba Kaien. He stood behind Ichigo, but didn't go onto the player platform, and watched with amusement as Ichigo also failed at the end of the twelfth stage. His glorious run was cut short, but there was one hope left with the approaching scoreboard.

Rukia heard the familiar explosion sound that signaled the end of a player's turn at the game. Although it pained her, she broke her embrace from Kaien to peer over the side of the railing. Ichigo's name shot up to the top of the high score list, besting Rukia's last score by three thousand points.

"It looks like I'm on top," Ichigo said loudly before turning his head slightly to smirk at her over his shoulder.

Rukia glared back at him and left the cafe, towing Kaien behind her.

"Congratulations, no one has ever beat her," Renji said, putting a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "You just made an enemy for life."

Ichigo arched his eyebrow at Renji's comment. Suddenly, he felt like leaving too. "I think I'm going to head out man," Ichigo said. An idea sparked in his head. "I have some stuff to do."

Renji grinned and followed his friend out of Sereitei. When the cool air hit them, Ichigo felt a bit of relief from the electronics buzzing inside the cafe. Relief, however, was still out of reach when his eyes caught two figures moving under the yellow light of a street lamp. Rukia straddled a sleek black motorcycle before lifting them up and wrapping them around the Olympic pool guy, all while they kissed ferociously and without care that they were in public.

"Who is that?" asked Ichigo, who hoped that his blush was hidden in the darkness.

"Kaien."

"And what does he do?"

"You're looking at it," Renji replied, a slight hint of amusement playing in his voice. "He just looks cool all day."

Ichigo watched as Kaien's hands roved all over Rukia's body, from her belly to up her breasts, then down towards her butt. Although there wasn't much surface area to caress on her small body, but Ichigo was surprised that his anger boiled as hot as the make-out session progressed. He wasn't experienced at all in the girl department, and in fact, Ichigo hadn't been very aware of women until the fateful day he met Kuchiki Rukia. Now he knew how frustrating the opposite sex really could be.

Kaien's hand wrapped itself in a fistful of Rukia's raven hair. He used his grip to manipulate her head, tilting it to the side and then the other, so he could taste every inch of her skin. Haughtily, Ichigo thought he could do that better than Kaien.

The way things were progressing, Rukia hoped that Kaien could get her into the bedroom as fast as his motorcycle could take them. She couldn't have asked for a better Friday night; a fun time at Sereitei, a romantic motorcycle ride in the moonlight, then ending it with Kaien making love to her for the rest of the night. Hell, at the rate they were going, Rukia wanted him to fuck her senseless against a wall, especially since Ichigo had worked up a bit of frustration with his high score. Rukia nibbled on Kaien's bottom lip before pulling away. "Let's get out of here," she whipered, her voice hoarse with desire.

Kaien smiled before he easily spun to face forward on his bike. He put on his helmet and started the ignition. Rukia hated wearing her helmet, since it was too big for her head and tended to fall so far forward that it blocked her vision, and she dangled it behind her when the motorcycle started to vibrate under her, continuing to stir the heat in her lower abdominem that Kaien had brewed with his embrace. Rukia took one last look at Sereitei, mentally planning the next time that she could return and take over the top score board once again. Her gaze met with Ichigo's intense stare, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Of course that pervert would be watching her. Rukia looked at his profile, deciding that Ichigo was probably an inch taller than Kaien, and slightly skinnier than him, but his face seemed more striking than Kaien's. It was probably his bright orange hair, but Rukia found that she couldn't hold his stare for more than a few seconds.

Rukia tightened her grip around Kaien's middle with her free arm, and she braced herself for the pull of the motorcycle through the cold air.

* * *

Ichigo yawned, but took another sip of his Mr. Coffee to surpress his sleepiness. The neon clock on his desk said it was 4:16 in the morning, but he had work to do. He figured he could sleep when he was dead. Ichigo opened a notebook that held the commands he used earlier to hack into the school administration system. This time, he brought up a figure of Karakura High. He had decided, back on the roof in the rain, that he hated his new school.


	7. Leaks

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. this is one of the shorter chapters, but no worries, i update daily! many thanks to XcaliberSA, MrsKurosaki, and NC2001 for their reviews...they keep me going!**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Leaks**

Renji bounded through the hallway in search for Ichigo. When he saw the orange haired kid beckon him from outside his classroom window, he knew a game was afoot. It didn't take long to find his friend standing quietly towards one side of the empty hallway; there was still another thirty minutes left in the current class period. Ichigo intently watched his wristwatch.

"What's up?" Renji asked, his effort to break the silence.

Ichigo didn't answer and only kept his eyes on the time. After a few more seconds like this, he looked up and lifted an umbrella over his head. A smile flashed towards Renji.

An alarm sounded, and the sprinkler system doused every area of the school with water.

Renji cringed a bit when the cold water hit him, but he pointed an accusing finger at the grinning Ichigo. "You...oh shit, you didn't!"

His stutters were interrupted when the doors of the classrooms simultaneously opened with screaming students pouring out of them. A tall blonde ran past the two boys, her white shirt clearly soaked, showing her hardened nipples from the cold water under the fabric. Renji's mouth gaped open as she passed by, and she threw a mischievious smile at him while slapping his chest lightly.

"Did you see that?!" he managed to spit out, mentally storing the image for later in his bedroom.

Ichigo shook his head but laughed. Suddenly, Rukia stormed up to him, and Ichigo wasn't alone under his umbrella. Her eyes shot daggers at him. "What the hell is going on?" she growled at him. "What did you do?"

Ichigo returned the angry stare. He didn't understand how she could keep up with her _"I'm-so-innocent"_ and self-righteous act. "The pool on the roof must have a leak."

Rolling her eyes, Rukia silently walked away from the comfort of the dry umbrella. She wanted the water to cool her off, unsure of why Kurosaki Ichigo irritated her so.

* * *

It took the fire department about an fifteen minutes to turn off all of the sprinklers and the ringing alarm system. It took another hour for the janitors to dry off as much of the school as possible, and since the principal didn't want to cancel school for presumably a senior prank, he decided that the students would have to deal with their wet attire and wet learning environment as a punishment and to discourage any more pranks in the future.

Rukia took a few extra minutes to find Kaien and steal his school hockey jersey, which he kept in his locker. They snuck off into the bathroom and she let him watch while she stripped off her soaked shirt and change into his apparel. When she got to her literature class, she did not notice the extra body sitting at the back of the classroom.

The teacher took his place in Rukia's seat, sending her and a few more of her classmates to write their favorite and literally significant quotes on the chalkboard.

Rukia finished first. _"God gave men brains bigger than dogs so they wouldn't hump women's legs at cocktail parties. Kuchiki Hisana." _The class laughed.

"I'm not so sure that your sister qualifies as a significant author, especially not in the world of classic literature," the teacher commented.

"Her last book sold ten million copies," Rukia replied. She sported a very serious and challenging look on her face. "Post mortem."

The teacher ignored the snickers from his students and focused on a quote at the far right side of the board.

_"Love sought is good, but given unsought, is better."_

"Shakespeare," said Ichigo. Several girls in the classroom swooned in their seats, all batting their eyelashes at the unfamiliar transfer student.

"Nice, very nice," the teacher nodded.

Rukia glared at Ichigo and never let her eyes leave his. "He's not in this class."

"I said give me time," Ichigo replied coolly, looking down at the chalk he played with in his fingers.

"He's not enrolled in this class," Rukia repeated, this time seeking support from their teacher.

He pulled out a long list from his leather folder, and Rukia slid across the wood desk at the front of the room to grab it from the teacher's hands. Directly underneath her name, "Kurosaki Ichigo" was printed on the roster. Looking up, Rukia bit her lip to keep from cursing out her smirking new classmate.

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most?" the teacher read aloud, interrupting the tension between the two.

"Ozzy Osbourne!" grinned a rather stocky guy with long, dark hair which he kept under a bandana. He had two small cuts shaved into his wiggling eyebrows.

"You," the teacher said as he walked up to the front of the room, taking the roster back from Rukia. "What is your name?"

"Shiba Ganju, sir?"

"You are not on my list."

Ganju face contorted into a mocking expression of shock. He tapped his eyebrow with his finger. "So you're saying this isn't wood shop class?"

The teacher shook his head, and looked like he was preparing to literally kick Ganju out of his literature class. Ganju, however, ran out faster than the teacher could act, almost fueled by the laugher of his peers. Ichigo cracked a smile and did not let it fade, even when Rukia turned her head to side side to glare at him once again.


	8. The Colors of Hacking

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. just read and enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**The Colors of Hacking**

Ichigo returned home with a loud slam of the door. He was used to his father flying at him through the air, but in Karakura, he was happy to return home to the sound of his mother's soft voice and charming smile. "How was school?" Masaki said, her voice floating from the kitchen. Ichigo followed it to see his mom already dressed in scrubs, eating a snack before leaving to go to the hospital.

He placed a kiss on her cheek. "Fine."

"And what did we learn in school today?"

"Revenge."

Masaki laughed and reached out to ruffle Ichigo's fluffy hair. "I see we met someone special then."

Ichigo blushed slightly and shook his head roughly. "No, there is no one special."

A mother's intuition knew better, but Masaki kept her thoughts to herself. She pused a thick pile of papers across the counter towards Ichigo. "I need to go back to the hospital, and I'll be working late. While I'm gone, will you please fill these out?" Ichigo eyed the top of the pile. She wanted him to fill out college applications. After all this time, his mother still didn't figure out that he could enroll himself anywhere he wanted to. Noticing Ichigo's silence, Masaki kissed his cheek as she brushed past him. "Don't worry kiddo, it's only the rest of your life."

Ichigo watched her put on her shoes and leave the apartment. His eyes rested on the applications for a second before he pushed them back to their origional position, far away from him, on the counter. He didn't feel like dealing with the future right now.

* * *

Ichigo didn't even bother trying to get in touch with Renji; he already knew where he could find his tattooed friend since he wasn't at home. With the loud electronics and buzzing of regular patrons in Sereitei, a new figure sat with Renji, Hanatarou, and Ichigo, although the latter recognized Ganju from his appearance in his Literature class.

"So check this out man, I was snooping through Nee-san's computer, and I found over fifty gigs of porn. I am scarred for life, but be assure I'd be physically handicapped for life if Nee-san ever finds out. Talk about a hack," Ganju said to the guys at the table. He nodded towards Renji. "Can I score a fry man? Thanks."

Renji watched helplessly as Ganju grabbed his box of fries. He figured Ganju only asked out of the manners his older sister beat into him. Upon hearing Ichigo let out a snort, Renji went ahead with the introductions. "Meet Shiba Ganju, also known as Bonnie. His alias is based upon whatever hog he's riding, as in a big pig."

"They're boars. I ride boars around town, it's easier than driving a car."

"But he does know things," Renji continued. Ichigo nodded towards his latest acquaintance, even though he caught Renji smirking at him. "You know your boy Kaien? This is his younger brother."

"Ah, you've met my Nii-san, isn't he the greatest? I swear there isn't anything he can't do," Ganju said with honest admiration of the older Shiba.

Ichigo coughed. His thoughts immediately conjured up the image of Kaien "doing" Rukia on his motorcycle. He creased both of his eyebrows as he tried to wipe his mind clean.

"Guysguysguysguysguys listen, listen to me," Hanatarou spoke up. He had three empty cans of Mr. Coffee surrounding him on the table, and now worked on drinking his fourth can. Hanatarou, however, still looked like a zombie with wrinkles under his eyes. When he thought he had the table's attention, he continued on his story. "Guys, so I'm in this computer right? I'm looking around..."

Renji leaned closer to Ganju, completely uninterested in Hanatarou's story. "Did you bring the Crayola books?" he whispered.

"The technicolor rainbow," Ganju replied with a smile. He reached under the table into his bag and pulled out a thick, but bendable book. He tossed it on the table in front of Renji. "Here's the green one."

"What is that? What is that guys? Let me see!" exclaimed Hanatarou, who was too intrigued by the books to even care that his story had been interrupted once again. He grabbed at the green book, but Renji was too fast.

"International Code," said Ichigo, nodding towards the book in Renji's hands.

Ganju produced another book, this one even thicker than the last. He stared at Ichigo, ready for an explanation. "Luscious orange."

"Computer security criteria."

Ganju grinned and took out another book. Ichigo took a lazy sip out of his soda before describing the contents. "The Pink Shirt Book, Guide to PCs. So called due to the nasty pink shirt the guy is wearing on the cover."

"What's this?" Ganju asked, just wanting to test the orange haired kid and pulling out another book.

"Devil Book, Unix Bible."

"And this?"

"Dragon Book, for design."

Although it takes him a moment, Ganju produces a much larger book about a third of the width longer than any of the other books he produced earlier. It made a loud flop as he tossed it onto the top of the pile of books that he just so happened to be carrying around in his bag.

Ichigo smirked. "The Red Book, on profile networking. Otherwise known as the Ugly Red Book that won't fit on a shelf."

Ganju only shakes his head. "The kid is good."

"Anyway anyway anyway guys guys guys, come on," Hanatarou said, once again in an attempt to take control of the conversation. He doesn't stop and barges on with his forsaken story. "So I'm in this computer, right? I'm looking around, throwing commands at it, I don't know where it is or what it does exactly. But it's beautiful. Finally like four hours later, after just messing around in there, I figure it out. It's a bank. So this morning, I look in the paper, and it says that some ATM machine in Bumsville Mugenjou-wherever spits out seventeen hundren yen into the middle of the street."

"That's kind of cool," Ganju says, obviously uninterested. He jammed fries in his mouth.

Hanatarou didn't catch on and only smiled. "That was me, yup. I did that." He looked around proudly, but his smile wavered when he saw Ichigo's unamused face.

"And you did this from your house?" he asked.

Hanatarou nodded.

"What are you, too hopped up on caffeine or just stupid? You don't hack a bank across the country from your house or you'll get nailed by the government. Where are your brains, in your ass? Don't you know anything?!" Renji yelled across the table. To emphasize his point, he crumpled up a napkin and threw it at Hanatarou's head.

"Stupid man," Ganju added. "It's universally stupid."

Hanatarou threw the napkin at Ganju, who so easily turned on him. "You guys always think I should know everything but you never tell me anything. Please learn me!"

Renji shook his head. "Okay, okay, here is an easy one so you'll stop crying. What are the three most commonly used passwords?"

After a moment of thinking, Hanatarou answered. "Love, secret, and...sex. But not necessarily in that order."

"Don't forget God," Ganju added. "System operators love to use God, it's the whole ego thing."

Renji crushed another napkin in his hands and threw it at Hanatarou's head. "You want to be elite, Hanatarou? You have to do a righteous hack, and none of this accidental shit. Then we'll take you seriously."

Ganju chuckled as he stuffed more fries in his mouth. "And if you want to do a seriously righteous hack, you score a Gibson. You need to hack into those supercomputers they use to do physics and look for oil and stuff."

"Yeah right, the security is too tight. You'd get fried in a second," replied Renji.

Ichigo shrugged. "Maybe, but if I were going to hack some heavy metal, I'd work my way through some low security and try the back door."

"That's what she said," laughed Ganju. He rested his hands at the back of his head as he leaned back into his chair. "But man, I would just love to get one of those Gibsons. Just for fun!"

"Yo who ate all of my fries?" Renji asked, his eyes narrowing into darts aimed at Ganju.

"Hanatarou," the accused said coolly.

"Noooo no no no, I did not touch your fries!" he said, holding his hands up innocently. Hanatarou secretly pointed back at Ganju.

"Shiba, you owe me a pack."

"But it was him!" Ganju protested. He didn't realize he could inhale fries so fast.

"I'm about to make you buy me two AND babysit Hanatarou to teach him how to play."

Ganju's mouth dropped to the table. He looked for support from Ichigo, who innocently looked towards the big video game he had beat Rukia at. He was slightly amused that his high score still reigned at the top of the list. Renji crossed his arms over his chest when Ganju looked at him, so the Shiba turned back to Hanatarou and raised his fist at him.

"I ought to hit you!" he growled, and the smaller kid grabbed a computer book to hide himself behind.


	9. Mister The Kyouka Suigetsu san

**Disclaimer and AN: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. it was brought to my attention that i wasn't clear on ages (hence my plea for a Beta for when i get too lazy to proofread or revise) and this is based on the American school system, i'm too lazy to look up how it is in Japan (sorries!): Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, and Kaien are seniors (18). Hanatarou and Ganju are younger, and i'm not specifying, so let's say they're juniors and a year younger than the others.**

**many thanks to XcaliberSA (i'll think of something for Kaien) and MrsKurosaki (your comments make me laugh) and everyone who has put this story on alert!**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**Mister The Kyouka Suigetsu-san**

Enter password.

**G-O-D**

The screen flashed, and then access granted.

"Yes," Hanatarou grinned to himself. He would show everyone. "It's you and me Hisagomaru! Let's do this."

Hanatarou's eyes darted from one corner of the screen to the other. There were so many files, commands, open storage drives, that he didn't know where to start. Truly, Gibsons were every elite computer users' playground.

"Okay, I need proof that we were here," he muttered, his fingers easily manning the arrow keys to navigate through the expansive super computer. Hanatarou's eyes darted to one obvious, yet inconspicuous, place. "Garbage, I'll take garbage for five hundred."

* * *

Hueco Mundo Mineral Corporation was the largest oil company in Japan, and one of the first companies to develop and use the super computer. For the last ten years, Hueco Mundo kept itself at the top of Japan's economic pillars by using the Gibson to its advantage for hunting precious oil. Above all, to keep up with and protect its advanced technologies, Hueco Mundo staffed the elite.

Behind his sly, fox-like smile, Ichimaru Gin watched the monitor intently. He reached over to the end of his desk and picked up the phone.

"Aizen-sama?" he spoke into the receiver.

A few blocks down from Hueco Mundo, a groggy Aizen Souske struggled to support himself as he lay on his stomach and talk on the phone at the same time. He had knocked over several cans of Mr. Coffee from his night stand, but he managed to grab the receiver. "My name is Kyouka Suigetsu."

"Uhm, Kyouka Suigetsu-san, something is happening on the monitor."

Good help was so hard to come by. "What is that something, you techno-weenie?" Aizen mumbled, completely uninterested in the phone call. Hueco Mundo only paid him to be the head of security from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and his digital clock clearly read that it was four in the morning.

Although the other man on the line could not see him, Gin never let his smile falter. "The accounting subdirectory in the Gibson is working really hard. There is one person registered online, but the workload is enough for ten to twelve users. I think we have a hacker. How soon can you be here?"

"Never fear, I is here," came a voice through the security doors of the lowest level of Hueco Mundo.

Gin turned around, not surprised at who appeared, but amazed at the speed of which he arrived. Aizen Sousuke glided through the hall, his path clearly aimed for the main screen to the Gibson, with his brown hair slicked back and eyes hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses.

Gin pulled up a chair for his superior. "I've narrowed the activity to terminal 23. Like I said, it's a single user."

Aizen typed in a few commands on the keyboard. He arched his eyebrow. " 'God' wouldn't be up this late," he mumbled. He pushed the mouse around, navigating through the terminal to check what activities the Gibson was executing. The "Garbage" folder blinked rapidly, and Aizen's eyes narrowed.

"Shit!" he growled. Aizen put an ear piece in place and pulled down the microphone. "Get me the switching control center. Hurry up!"

Nodding, Gin dialed the extension on the number pad. He watched as Aizen typed at an incredible rate, his fingers never resting between each key stroke.

"I need to trace a call that is in progress," Aizen commanded. He hoped that he wasn't too late.

* * *

Laying in his bed across the room from his laptop, Hanatarou could not succomb to sleep until he knew his file finished downloading. His eyes flickered over to check the monitor, watching the progress bar slowly fill to completness. He may have been imagining it from the overdose of adrenaline from hacking the Gibson, but Hanatarou thought the file was copying slower than usual.

_"What is in there?" _he thought silently as he tucked his hands behind his head. He tried to find amusement in the ceiling, but a knock at his bedroom door interrupted his thoughts.

"Shit!" he hissed. Hanatarou hurried to shimmy himself under his bed sheets and turn of the lamp on his night stand.

It wasn't his biological mother, but Hanatarou loved her nonetheless. His adoptive mother opened the door and swept through the room gracefully. Her long raven hair was braided towards the front, and even though she was dressed for bed, she would probably sleep with her hair fixed in that manner and wake up with every strand in place.

"Bed, sleep, now," Unohana's voice floated in the darkness.

She made her way to Hanatarou's computer and pushed the power button. The screen also slipped into darkness, and she pushed the screen shut. Unohana left a kiss on Hanatarou's forehead, who feigned sleep with a small smile. When the door closed once more, Hanatarou rolled over to grab a flashlight from under his bed. He tip toed to his desk and opened his computer again. It had shut off.

Realizing that he was unable to do any more at the moment, he pulled the USB drive from the back of his laptop. Hanatarou leapt back onto his bed, feeling his ceiling for the air vent where he kept his most prized and secretive possessions. Grabbing a piece of tape, he taped his jump drive to the wall of the open space and replaced the vent to cover it inconspiculously. At least he had his proof of a piece of a Gibson, and he would show the guys when he saw them at school on Monday. For now, Hanatarou could sleep.

* * *

"He's gone," Gin sighed as he watched the blinking lights on the screen fade to a solid color. He ran a hand through his long, silvery hair. For all of the hours he had worked in Hueco Mundo security, they usually only entailed him watching the screen, and he never really respond to a serious security breach. He watched Aizen work silently out of the corner of his eye.

"Did you get a trace?" Aized talked into his headphone set.

"Yeah we got it."

Finally, Aizen let a smile cross his face. Thing were working out as planned. "Good."


	10. Razor and Blade

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers.**

**and for the record, i love Hanatarou, don't get me wrong. the poor thing will go through some rough times through the fic, but i do love him so. thanks again to XcaliberSA, MrsKurosaki, and Ichimaru-taicho for their support!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**Razor and Blade**

Ichigo knew better than to ask questions when it came to Renji and Ganju's ways. He didn't really have anything better to do, no new hacks he felt any strong interest in, and his mother was spending another long working day at the hospital, so he just went along with whatever they were up to. This afternoon, after Ichigo's mother had to drag him out of bed, the orange haired hacker followed his friends up nearly six flights of stairs in an apartment building. From the outside, it looked like a normal, well-kept complex, but Ichigo knew he was wrong when he entered it. The inside walls looked derelict with graffiti scribblings on almost every inch of its surface area, but in some kind of way, it gave the building life and a lot of vibrant color. The two leaders stopped at a door labelled "Hackstock" in bright graffiti.

Ichigo felt like questions were overrated in this particular technicolor experience. Renji knocked a little tune on the door, and the trio waited quietly outside in the hallway. Instead, Ichigo turned his thoughts elsewhere. "Have you guys heard of a hacker called Acid Burn? Do you know who he is?"

Renji arched a tattooed eyebrow. "I don't know who he is." He nodded towards Ganju. "Do you?"

Before Ganju could respond, the door thrust open, and another young male with blonde hair visible from under his oversized hoodie stood before them. His brown eyes stared straight at Ichigo from under his straight bangs.

Renji reached out to execute an intricate handshake. "Vizard! Lord Vizard, this is-"

"Crash Override," Ichigo finished. He held out his hand in greeting.

Vizard did not move, but his eyes narrowed in scrutiny. The corner of his mouth twisted upward in a sneer, revealing his thin and perfect white teeth. "Never heard of you. Done anything?"

"No."

Without another word, Vizard slammed the door in Ichigo's face. Renji pounded his fist on the "Hackstock" sign again, and the door opened for Vizard to reappear once more.

"What?! Did your mom buy you a 'puter for Christmas?" he spat, his insult aimed at Ichigo. The orange-haired hacker stood tall, a stone-hard look upon his face. The Vizard had no idea what kind of person he was, and Ichigo didn't take well to the unearned insults. He clearly made it known to Vizard that he wasn't amused in the least.

The man blocking the doorway turned to Renji, his voice dropping low. "Does he know anything?"

Renji eyed Ichigo and shrugged. "Sure man, he's elite."

Vizard eyed Ichigo up and down once more. Then he moved aside. "Come in."

Ichigo kept his mouth shut, and followed Renji into the apartment with Ganju behind him. After he stepped inside, he turned around and linked arms with Vizard. "Hey man, Shinji, can I crash at your place tonight?" he asked with a broad smile.

Vizard, or as the common people knew him as Shinji, closed the door. "Again? Your sister got your balls against the fan?" Ganju nodded, a remorseful frown on his face, and Shinji could only pity him. He removed his hood, his slick blonde bob undisturbed by the material. With the light on his face, Shinjis demeanor relaxed significantly, and he was actually glad people came over to watch their favorite television program. He thought he should apologize for being so hard on Ichigo, but Shinji kept the action to himself. He had a reputation to defend, especially when he was housing those abused by their siblings. "Sure man."

The smile returned to Ganju's face, this time even bigger and brighter. The two hugged and moved to the living room that was well-stocked with hot pizzas and cold Mr. Coffee cans.

* * *

"Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate public and privately owned computer systems. They infect them with viruses and stealing materials for their own ends. These people are terrorists."

"Who is that?" Ichigo asked, sipping on his third Mr. Coffee. His eyes watched the figure standing stiffly on the screen with the news anchor's microphone in his face. The man appeared to be an officer or head investigator of sorts, donning a crisp blue suit, white button-down shirt, and slim black tie. He had an earpiece clearly visible from his ear, and as professional he dressed, Ichigo thought that he wasn't very traditional by the look of his long dead locks, pulled to the back of his head. He supposed dress codes for law officials were getting more lax by the days.

"That is Captain Tousen Kaname, and your hacker enemy number one," Ganju replied with a mouthful of pizza. He tossed his crust at the television set, then leaned forward to retrieve it and put it back in his mouth. "You're a boner!"

Suddenly, the television set broke out in static, and the screen went into a sort of "Intermission" logo. Instantly Renji and Shinji focused on the screen, and even Ganju sat up while he finished his pizza crust. "It's showtime, showtime!" he cheered.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked, suddenly intrigued at the program interruption. He watched the other guys countdown with the numbers flashing on the screen.

4...3...2...1...!

A catchy jingle played on the screen, and a logo of the planet with a computer plugged into it took over the television. It turned out to be a graphic on a piece of paper, held by an olive-skinned woman with sleek, cat-like features. She was quite pretty with long purple hair and brilliant amber eyes, and her smile sparkled for the camera. "Welcome to our show," she purred, grinning with her face next to the logo paper.

"Hack the Planet!" the three viewers cheered in the room. Ichigo missed the cue.

In an instant, a blonde-haired guy jumped into the screen next to the purple-haired girl. Although his eyes were obscured by his striped green and white hat, the mischieviousness of his grin matched the woman he huddled next to. Clearly, the two had hacked a great number of televisions for their broadcast and were entertaining their audience from a live feed.

"Hack the Planet! Brought to you by the man who supports you through those late night hacks," he said.

"Mr. Coffee coffee!" the woman finished, now holding a can of Ichigo's favorite beverage to her dark cheek. "Enjoy it cold, or be a rebel and drink it hot."

Ichigo arched his eyebrow, silently intrigued by the beauty on the screen. He wished that the dude would quit sharing the air time. "Who are these guys?" he asked, hoping his friends could detatch themselves from the show long enough to answer his question.

Shinji eyed him, wondering where Renji could find credit in the new kid. He pointed at the screen. "That's Razor and Blade." Ichigo didn't have a response, and Shinji shook his head.

On the screen, Razor and Blade had a pay phone sitting on top of a table. Razor, the purple haired woman, modeled around the public item, like a prize on a game show.

"This is a payphone," Blade, the striped hat guy said. He looked at his sidekick, and they turned to the camera in unison.

"Don't ask."

Razor produced a microdigital recorder from her ample bosom. She winked at the camera as she did this. "As you can see, this is a simple and very lucky recorder. Hook it up to the phone and drop in five bucks in quarters."

Blade took over the camera when Razor started to pull out random quarters from different crevacies on her body. "Record the tones that the coins make, hang up, and get your money back!"

When Blade moved over to reveal Razor once again, she apparently was finished hunting for quarters and dangled her recorder in her fingers. She swiveled her body for the camera, her white smile aimed at her precious viewers. She knew what she had, and she was not ashamed to add a little spice to the tv show. "Never again pay for a service that would be dirt cheap-"

"If it weren't run by a bunch of profiteering gluttons!" Blade finished, tossing a white bed sheet over his partner. He clearly did not want to share the good view, but the girl wouldn't have it.

Razor threw off the sheet and used her butt to push Blade out of the way. She bent over, putting her hands on her thighs and pushing out her breasts with her arms. The guys sat silent in the living room, completely engrossed in the show. "Remember," she purred, her voice a song echoing out of the speakers. The guys leaned forward, closer to the monitor. "Hacking is more than just a crime, it's a survival trait!"


	11. Busted

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers.**

**i got really bored typing more of this story, and i'm kind of stuck with "Never Let This Go"...so i am updating for the SECOND time today. sooo before you get confused: i updated with Chapter 10 and 11 today! yay!**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**Busted**

"Cause my heart is damaged, damaged, damaged, damaged, I thought that I should let you know! So how you gonna fix it, fix it, fix it? Baby I gotta know!"

As loud as the shower poured out schorching hot water, Hanatarou blasted his music even louder. He grooved to the music of his favorite girl group, pretending that they joined him in his shower, and he was in such a good mood because he had forgotten that everyone was meeting at Hirako Shinji's apartment, also known as The Vizard's Hackstock Lounge. He wanted to bring the USB drive so everyone could see proof that he had hacked a Gibson.

Finishing his shower, Hanatarou squeezed out the rest of the water from his hair. He turned off his radio and pushed open the shower curtain, only to be met with three gun barrells in his face.

"Freeze!" a masked man barked at him.

Hanatarou's hands instantly raised towards the ceiling. He then remembered he was fresh naked in front of a bathroom full of strangers, and dropped one hand to cup his privates from view. The intruder would not have it, and he grabbed Hanatarou's lowered arm, twisting it behind his back, and dragged the wet boy out of the bathroom.

"Hanatarou! What is the meaning of this?" Unohana yelled from the couch when she saw the police exit the bathroom with her son in tow. They forced him to sit on the couch next to her, and she handed him a pillow to cover his privates.

"Stay down there and don't move!" another man barked.

A fury of thoughts raced through his head. Never in his worst nightmares did Hanatarou think he would get caught by police or secret agents for hacking, and he regretably thought about his Gibson tryst. He looked over his shoulder to see there were even more police stomping out of his room, his PC and his laptop in their possession.

"Hisa!" he yelled. In a flash, Hanatarou leapt from the couch, not caring about the pillow which covered him modestly, and lunged at the closest officer who carried his lap top.

"Hanatarou!" Unohana gasped. Her hands were conflicted between grabbing the naked boy and covering her agape mouth. She just shut her eyes to calm herself.

The intruding officers, however, were also conflicted in keeping their eyes on the pale pair of exposed buttocks or looking away and concealing their laughter.

* * *

Easing his long dreadlocks into a neat ponytail, Tousen Kaname cheked his appearance in the rearview mirror of his squad car before stepping out in the chaos of newscasters, the murmurs of the bystanders, and the hustle of his men. Slim ties were the new fashion, and today's big bust was as good of a time as any to try out the new trend.

"Who are we arresting and for what?" he asked himself before moving towards the center of the bustle. Luckily, Tousen passed his favorite underling and do-boy, who was busily flipping through report papers while on his own way towards his car. "How's it going, Margera?"

The tiny blonde looked up, startled by the strong hand on his shoulder, but his expression relaxed when he saw it was his commanding Captain. He smiled bashfully. "It looks good Captain. We have an uncorrupted hard drive."

Tousen pouted. "In Japanese please. I didn't spend ten years protecting the Commander General so I could finish my career feeling like an idiot," he said tersely. Margera Wonderweiss frowned, looking more child-like in demeanor, which tugged a bit at Tousen's heart strings.

"I'm sorry sir," Margera apologized. He put his hands on his hips, as if emphasizing that changing his previous statement into simpler terms proved a bit of a difficult task. "We caught and arrested him by surprise, so we don't think that he had time to erase his computer files."

"Ah, excellent," the Captain nodded. He eyed his favorite reporter maneuvering through the crowd, and instinctively, Tousen ran his hands down the front of his chest to smooth out any last wrinkles. Tousen dismissed his man. "Let's finish up here and take him in for interrogation. And make sure you bring him by me, I want to inspect the perp."

"Of course, sir."

As soon as Wonderweiss scurried away, a buxom blonde hurried up to Tousen, her chest bouncing with each excited step. Matsumoto Rangiku knew that she would get her scoop before any of the other news team. She smiled seductively at Tousen.

"Captain Tousen, can you spare a moment of your time?"

"Why of course, Matsu-chan. But only a few minutes and only for you," he winked at her.

Matsumoto feigned a blush on her cheeks. "I heard that this arrest has something to do about a hacker? Could you explain to me what these people do, and how great is the need to arrest them?"

Tousen opened his mouth to answer, but had to start again when his men dragged the arrested perpetrator past the camera. The accused surprised him by his young age, but mostly by the power that his mother held by her presence alone. Tousen composed himself while they passed by him.

"Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate public and privately owned computer systems," said Tousen, resuming the interview. "They infect them with viruses..."


	12. da Vinci's Demands

**Disclaimer: i don't own Bleach or Hackers.**

**thank you to my wonderful reviewers: NC2001, Ichimaru-taicho, MrsKurosaki, & XcaliberSA...and everyone who has favorited and put my story on alert! enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**da Vinci's Demands**

Ichimaru Gin hurried through the massive and bustling hallways of the Hueco Mundo Mineral Corporation. He held a thick file filled with the top-secret police report, delivered a useful fifteen minutes after his superior Aizen called a security meeting with the other leaders of the company. Gin knew his superior wouldn't be too forgiving for this tardiness, and he burst through the double doors, sweat shining on his face. Ten heads turned to look at him, and Gin held up the file with his sleek, fox-like grin.

"Gin, thank you for arriving," Aizen said, unfazed by the new arrival. He stood at the front of the lengthy conference room with a mahogany table in the middle, illuminated by the sunlight pouring through the immense window behind him. With five of Hueco Mundo's biggest investors and five of his lead C.E.O.s listening on, Aizen briefed them on the situation. "I specifically asked you to bring the police report to help illustrate the next part of my presentation. A recent unknown intruder, using a superuser account, penetrated our network, giving him access to our whole system."

"Precisely what you're paid to prevent," one of the investors interjected.

Aizen narrowed his eyes at him, and the investor pretended to busy himself with the copies of the police report Gin handed out.

"Someone didn't bother reading my carefully prepared memo on commonly used passwords. Now, as I so meticulously pointed out, the four most used passowords are love, sex, secret, and _God_," Aizen continued. He now eyed Gin, who stood at the back of the room quietly. "So would your Holiness care to change his password?"

Gin moved his head to each side, looking around the room to figure out exactly who Aizen was referring to. Ten pairs of eyes staring at him cleared any suspicions that someone else in the room had the same password that he used to log into Hueco Mundo systems.

"A hacker planted the virus," Aizen continued.

Gin's smile wavered a little. "Virus?"

"Yesterday, a ballast program for a supertanker training model mistakenly thought the vessel was empty and flooded its tanks."

"Excuse me?"

Agitated by his persistant questions, Aizen picked up a miniature figure of the oil ships Hueco Mundo utilized out at sea. Aizen held it out in front of him, then slowly turned the ship model over, with a smug look on his face behind it. "The little boat flipped over. A virus planted in the Gibson computer system claimed responsibility."

This time, Gin's smile completely faded. A perplexed look took over his pale face. "Did it leave a note or something?"

Smirking, Aizen exchanged the ship model for a remote control and pointed it at a projector hanging from the ceiling. Promptly, a white screen lowered over the wall and a psychadelic video started to play. It seemed like a horrible 70's style music video with every color in the rainbow swirling over a man's face with long curly hair. The voice it spoke with had both male and female tones to it.

"Unless five million dollars are transferred to the following numbered account in seven days, I will capsize five tankers in the Hueco Mundo fleet."

Aizen paused the video with the remote. "That is the virus. It's name is Leonardo da Vinci. The problem is that we have twenty-six ships at sea, and we don't know which ones are infected."

One of the rich suit investors spoke up next. Sweat shone on his head devoid of any hair. "Can we put the ships under manual control?"

"No such thing anymore," Aizen said while shaking his head no. "These ships are completely computerized. They rely on satellite navigation, which links them to us here, on our network, to the virus, no matter where in the world they go."

"What are we supposed to do?" Gin asked from his stance at the back of the room.

"Luckily, Ichimaru, thanks to your talents as head security officer and your quick thinking last night, we successfully traced the hacker's call. Government agents picked him up this morning, I'll search his files for the original virus code, and then I can eliminate it."

The rich suit spoke again. "Now we expect you to get onto this right away, yes?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"How soon?"

Aizen pretended to look off into the distance, just to humor the company's investors. "We're working on it as fast as we can. This is a very common occurrence in corporations as large as ours. You have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah right," the rich suit said, rolling his eyes. He got up, and the rest of the people sitting at the table followed his lead. They left the room, chattering amongst themselves.

"The Japanese government is helping us out 100 percent!" Aizen called after the leaving people. No one responded to him, and he watched as Gin waved feverishly at each person.

"Bye bye!" he said and closed the door once they were alone. Gin turned around, his demeanor changing instantaneously. "What he hell was that about? They looked pissed. And at me!"

"I had to move fast. The hacker copied my garbage file."

"Yeah I know, I saw that. What does that man?"

Aizen pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his lips pressed together in a tight line. "I created Senior da Vinci so we could call in the government agents. We get their help, we arrest the hacker, sieze his equiptment, and get this stuff covered better than we could have planned on our own."

"I don't want to go to jail for this."

"Relax," Aizen replied coolly. He looked at the frozen picture of the fake virus he created. "Think about the two hundred and fifty million dollars."

Gin shook his head before grabbing the remote. He pushed the power off button and the television screen went black. "But you created a virus that's going to cause a worldwide ecological disaster...just to arrest some hacker kid?"

"Uhm...yes."

"Aizen-san, there really is a fine line between insanity and genius."

A smile finally crossed Aizen's face. He gazed out of the window, his mind entertained by the thoughts that he could control the city through this technological skills. It was an electrifying feeling. "I can cancel the virus at any time, I don't need to retrieve that program code. I just need to find out how much of the garbage file the kid copied, in case it's enough to convict us of our evil doings."

Gin walked over to the window to stand next to his superior. "So no one knows what the file is really for?"

"No, but I have to go over to the police station so I can keep tabs on the investigation. Just sit tight, I have this all under my control."

* * *

The investigation room in the local police headquarters was much smaller than what Aizen was used to with his office at Hueco Mundo, but he didn't mind as long as he could see the hacker face to face and search his things. To his surprise, the culprit was a junior at the local high school, and since he was still considered a child, he would not face harsh sentencing. Aizen watched as the young man fell helplessly over the open and broken rubble that was once his desktop computer. His body shook with sobs.

On the other side of the one-way window, Aizen stood with the lead investigator, Kaname Tousen. Aizen could tell the other man didn't know the difference between a calculator and a computer. "Did you find the program for the virus on any of the discs or drives we confiscated?" Tousen asked.

Aizen shook his head. "No. The kid is either very smart or very stupid."

"Then he stashed it somewhere or has an accomplice. We'll release him until his indictment, keep tight surveillance, and see if he leads us to your virus," he replied. Tousen snapped his fingers, remembering important information Wonderweiss had brought him earlier. He presented Aizen with a thick manila folder full of printed-out profiles.

"Ugh, hard copies," muttered Aizen.

"I took the liberty of looking up rap sheets of local Karakura High students and possible accomplices of this Yamada kid. All of these kids have had prior run-ins with the law, and I was hoping maybe a name would stick out for you."

Aizen's brown eyes scanned the lists of offenses the police had taken their time copying for him. Suddenly, a single picture and name jumped out at him, and the offender only had one crime listen on his record, impressive since it occurred seven years ago. His lips whispered the name as Aizen memorized the face in the picture.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."


	13. We are Hackers

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. thanks to my usual reviewers, Mizu1411 for leaving a line, and everyone who put this story on alert! ps the IchiRuki action starts...now-ish? wink**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**We are Hackers**

Ichigo and his friends finished their lunch, and with another ten minutes left during their lunch break, the group headed into the bathroom together. Surprisingly, Ganju took out a toothbrush and a full-sized tube of toothpaste before preparing the sink for him to brush at. Ichigo eyed him curiously, and Ganju shrugged at him.

"What?" he asked defensively. Ichigo shook his head, and Ganju turned to Renji, who checked his hair in the mirror. "So what do you think, can I crash at your place tonight?"

Ichigo laughed at his question. "Dude, what's with you?"

Renji tightened his spiky bun and came to his rescue. "Ganju is scared shitless of his sister. And you would be too because that wench will have your balls in a vice-grip before you can look at her the wrong way." Upon seeing no hair was out of place and his teeth were spotless, Renji flashed a brilliant smile at himself in the mirror. "Did you guys hear about Hanatarou's bust? Leave it to him to be the first one of us to get fried by the police."

"Maybe it had something to do with that bank in Mugenjou?" Ganju managed to say through the foam bubbling in his mouth.

"Have you talked to him? asked Ichigo.

"No," Renji replied with a smirk. "His mom said that he's grounded for his next three lifetimes and isn't to consort with his computer friends. Government agents were really out to get him."

A somber mood passed over the group in the bathroom, except for the sounds of Ganju spitting and rinsing out his mouth. Renji hit Ichigo in the chest lightly. "There's a big party tonight, do you want to go?"

Ichigo shook his head. The only socializing he really did was through the computer. People were too much of a bother to him.

"It's a Rukia's," Renji continued, wiggling his eyebrows. In the second Ichigo used to even re-think his initial answer, Renji hit him again enthusiastically. "That's what I thought, lover boy!"

Ganju chuckled as he finished brushing his teeth. He and Renji laughed while they made their way back into the hallway, leaving Ichigo alone in the bathroom to shake his head.

* * *

School ended just as fast as Ichigo expected, and he was ready to relax at home with the welcoming smile from his mother as he pushed his key through the lock. Suddenly, the door opened for him, and he felt something prod him from behind.

"Freeze, police!" said one officer.

"Don't move!" another officer added.

Ichigo felt them pull his arms behind him while someone padded his clothes down. The officers forced him into the apartment, and shut the door to keep out any intertuptions. They slammed Ichigo's frontside into a wall. "Shit! What the hell-"

"Shut up!" barked Tousen, who eyed the orange-haired boy. This one barely looked older than the kid they arrested the night before.

"What are you doing man? Get off of me!" Ichigo yelled back. The officers who held him threw him on his bed, then pulled out their guns to point at their detainee.

"Just sit in the bed and keep your hands where we can see them," Tousen instructed.

Ichigo glared at the men who invaded his apartment. He didn't see or hear his mother, so he felt a little better that Masaki couldn't see her son in police custody again. Silently, Ichigo prayed that she wouldn't return home soon, when a voice called his attention.

"The year was 2001. A nasty virus crashed fifteen thousand systems in one day."

Ichigo closed his eyes and relived his day in court. He remembered the smug look on the prosecutor's face, the purple coat, and the fluffy collar under his chin. He opened his eyes again, this time, focusing on the tall man standing in his room.

"Fifteen thousand _and seven_," Ichigo said curtly.

Tousen stepped forward. "It got you seven years probation. You had no computer, and you weren't even allowed to use a telephone."

"Must have been hell..._Zangetsu_?" Aizen said, emphasizing Ichigo's former handle. He leaned casually with his back against Ichigo's bedroom wall, his dark eyes analyzing the boy in front of him. Aizen dove right to the point. "A virus has been planted in the Hueco Mundo Mineral Company computer system. You were our prime suspect, until we trashed your stuff while you were at school and found no trace of it."

"However, we have come to believe that one Yamada Hanatarou is involved in this Hueco Mundo virus," Tousen continued. "He, or perhaps an accomplice, has a disk or storage device containing a file that Aizen-san needs to disable that virus. We want you to help us find it."

Aizen walked across the small room and put a hand on Tousen's shoulder. Time to get the square out of the room. "Tousen-sama, please."

Tousen and his two subordinates took the hint, and they backed out of the bedroom. Aizen closed the door behind them.

"Simpleton," Aizen said, and Ichigo instantly saw his demeanor changed with a flicker in his eyes. Aizen removed his black-rimmed glasses, while running his other hand through his wavy auburn hair. "I can't believe you were only eleven when you wrote that virus. That is very impressive. Now Kurosaki, I know how you might feel about narking on your friends, but...we are hackers. For us, there is no such thing as family or friends. We are each our own country, with temporary allies and enemies. I would like to make a treaty with you."

Ichigo scowled at him. "I'm sorry...who are you?!"

Aizen smiled widely. "I'm the one who understands you. Now, can we be allies?"

"Nah," Ichigo shrugged. He could play the game just as well. "I don't play well with others."

Nodding, and not letting his smile falter, Aizen noted something of interest in the corner of the room. He reached out to grasp a wooden baseball bat. Turning back around, Aizen suddenly swung the bat at the wall he once stood against. Several picture frames and other decorations once handing fell upon impact. The sudden and loud crashes made Ichigo jump from his seat.

"Shit!" Ichigo yelled in surprise. "Come on man!"

Aizen pointed the bat directly at the boy's chest and prodded him firmly. "Watch which friends you do play with. A record like yours could land you in jail, get you kicked out of school, and no colleges would take you. You'll have no future, exiled from everyone and everything you love." He thrusted the baseball bat at Ichigo, who caught it easily. "I'll be in touch."

The taller man turned to open the door, revealing Captain Tousen and his officers, who looked in with a curious looks on their faces.

"I'm fine," Aizen said to the waiting officers. He stopped for one last look at Ichigo. "Oh, and Kurosaki, try to stay out of trouble okay?"

"Blow me," snapped Ichigo.

Aizen smiled even wider. "Thank you."

Ichigo stayed on his bed while he heard the footsteps of all of the police exiting his apartment. He threw the bat against the far wall of his room, causing more things to crash down, and Ichigo sprawled out along his bed. Thoughts and past nightmares stirred chaotically in his mind, and Ichigo struggled to center himself. He closed his eyes, trying to find comfort in the darkness, and he quickly succombed to the pleasantry of sleep.

* * *

As Ichigo relaxed in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, the sound of his bedroom door opening caught his attention. Ichigo sat up immediately, worried that it was Captain Tousen or the other evil guy returning for round two. INstead, to his amazement as she stepped over the threshold of his bedroom doorway, Kuchiki Rukia clutched at the top of a tight black motorcycle jacket. Her purple eyes smouldered at him with dark intent. Rukia moved silently across the room, and before she climbed onto Ichigo's lap, she pulled the jacket zipper down, revealing perky and creamy breasts underneath. Straddling Ichigo, her hands cupped his face before he let them roam all over his body while they kissed long and hard. Ichigo reached up, kneading the fleshy chest and pulled at her pink nipples which hardened between his fingers.

Rukia moaned in his mouth, and by this time, they weren't even kissing anymore, their lips were just pushed together to forsake space between them. Ichigo's hand ran up Rukia's back and tilted the girl backwards so she offered her chest fully to him. He licked the valley between Rukia's breasts, taking his time to nibble random patches of her smooth skin, and Rukia grinded herself onto Ichigo's hardening erection, causing him to grunt deeply into her body. Their eyes clashed against each other once more, and Rukia lowered her lips onto Ichigo's once more in a long and sensual kiss.

Suddenly, another noise at the bedroom door caught the couple's attention. Captain Tousen hurried towards the bed, lifting Rukia in the air and pulling her from their embrace. Then Aizen came through and handcuffed Ichigo's hand to his own, his black eyes burned from beyond his glasses and his smile devilishly evil.

Panting, Ichigo jumped up from his bed with sweat pouring down from his forehead. He looked around his bedroom frantically and struggled to take in new breaths. The previous images were the result of a horrible nightmare. Although it was dark outside, Ichigo checked the time, and his clock read ten o'clock. In the least, he still had enough time to get ready for the party with Renji and Ganju.

Because first, he had to take a cold shower.


	14. Crash and Burn, prepare for battle

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. this chappy is dedicated to MrsKurosaki...i hope this appeases you!**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Crash and Burn, prepare for battle**

The party at Rukia's top-floor apartment could be heard from a block down the street. Looking up from the sidewalk below, Ichigo could see the silhouettes of people dancing and other just standing around on the open balcony. He braced himself for entering enemy territory.

It wasn't that Ichigo hated Rukia, but they didn't start on the greatest of terms when she directed him to the fabled pool on the roof, and although it may have been Kaien's suggestion, it wasn't like Rukia did anything to defend him. Instead, she kept a cool and distant relationship with him, which downright pissed Ichigo off, but at the same time, it excited him with a challenge. He forced himself time and time again that Rukia was nothing more than a big challenge in a little package, and that there was something that intrigued him since the day they met at school. There was no denying she was mysterious and beautiful, and Ichigo just wanted to know if there was more to her than a cold, hard bitch.

The bass thumped through Ichigo's chest, and he plastered his signature frown as he passed the many bodies stuffed in the swank apartment. Renji made a straight line to a bookshelf against the wall. He pulled out a thick hard-cover book and displayed it for Ichigo. "Her sister made big bucks writing self-help books for women. Her best-seller is this, '_Women Who Love Men Who are Emotional Amoebae' _". He put the book back on the shelf, his expression suddenly serious. "Go figure her ex-boyfriend would stalk her after he found out that her sister, Hisana, got married to this rich hot-shot named Kuchiki. He killed her when she was on her way to pick up Rukia from school, that asshole. Anyway, her brother-in-law set her up with this awesome pad while he's always on business in Japan or wherever businessmen go, but he's a good guy. He takes care of Rukia, financially anyway."

"That explains a lot," Ichigo mumbled. He shoved his hands into his pockets and surveyed the room casually. "Well Rukia is a big girl, and she seems like she can handle herself well."

"Yo Shinji!" Renji called out. His attention focused into the next room.

Ichigo followed him to where the music originated, and manning the DJ booth, was their friend Lord Vizard. Shinji nodded and high-fived Renji, who lead the approach. He also shook hands with Ichigo, and out of nowhere, a drunken Ganju bumped into the trio.

"Yo Bonnie, I'm glad you made it. I need you to work your charm on the ladies, three o'clock." Ganju spun around, but Shinji stopped him. "Dude, don't look right away, what is wrong with you? Check it out..."

Renji, Ichigo, and Ganju slyly took a peek at a beautiful girl dancing across the room. Shinji closed his eyes and rattled off the information he had memorized about her. "Her name is Yadoumaru Lisa, 26 East 7th Street, apartment 16, 555-4817!" he said with a smirk.

"How did you know that?" Ichigo asked.

Shinji tapped his forehead and smiled. "I have photographic memory. It's a curse!"

Meanwhile, Renji and Ganju made their way through the dancing crowd. Suddenly, Ganju threw out an arm to stop his friend from walking. "Yo, look at that pooper man. Spandex, it's a privilege, not a right!"

The duo broke out in a fit of laughter. Renji held his stomach and looked out the window. He wondered what Hanatarou was up to.

* * *

"Hi, uh, my name is Hanatarou, but uh, I am not an addict."

Hanatarou's introduction was met with murmurs around the room. It was clear his support group did not agree with him, and the teen waved his hands furiously. "No no nonononono, really really listen. Listen to this. I got in trouble with my computer right, and my lawyer told the judge that I'm an addict, but really! I am not addicted to my computer!"

He took a long swig of the brown liquid in his mug, finishing it in one gulp. Hanatarou felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the others staring at him, and he motioned towards the side of the room. "I'm going to get more coffee."

* * *

Shinji put a playlist on blast with his DJ equiptment and gathered a slumped Ganju from the corner, motioning the guys to follow him. Ichigo helped with the inebriated Ganju by slinging an arm around his own neck. They walked into a quiet and dark room, moving easily into a corner where a desk was set up under the only light from a lone stand-up lamp, and they dropped Ganju in the chair. Renji followed, his attention drawn to a small laptop on the desk. He lifted up the monitor, laughing happily that it roused from its sleeping state. Bright colors swirled on the screen and then flames moved from the bottom to burn away the colors to reveal the plain black home screen.

"Check out this baby, it's as beautiful as she described it," Renji cooed at the machine.

"Active matrix man," added Ganju, his eyes squinted at the screen. Upon seeing the laptop stir, he also felt rejuvenated as well. "A million psychedelic colors. It's so beautiful."

"I want it," said Shinji. He ran his fingers along the top of the screen.

"I want it to have my children!" Renji grinned.

"I bet it looks crispy in the dark," Ganju said while he rested on his elbow on the desk. Although his eyes couldn't focus well, he tried to appreciate what was in front of him. With the bright monitor staring directly at him, it was impossible to pass out anyway. "Hit the lights."

Ichigo reached backward and turned the light off. The graphics on the homescreen dazzled through the darkness. Their whispers of admiration were interrupted by the sounds of light moaning and the rip of zippers opening. The guys looked up from the laptop to see Rukia push Kaien onto a bed and crawl on top of him, swivelling her hips seductively over his. Her head dipped low to kiss him, and Kaien groaned audibly into her mouth.

"Shit!" Ichigo hissed.

"Shhh!" Renji hissed back at him. His eyebrow suddenly arched as the group huddled close together in the corner to avoid detection. Renji could barely make out in the dark the shape of a large hand grasping the back of Rukia's top, and without much more movement, her clothes magically peeled away. "Was that her top?"

"One handed!" Ganju whispered back. "Difficulty rating?"

"Seven," Shinji answered promptly. He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a pair of glasses so he could see better in the dark. His mouth dropped. "Eight! Damn...Burn's wetware matches her software!"

Ichigo spoke before he processed his thoughts. "Burn?" he asked loudly.

"What the fuck?" they heard Kaien grunt, and Rukia jumped off of him while covering her chest by crossing her arms to close her top.

"What the hell are you guys doing in here?" Rukia yelled. She hurried over to the wall and flipped on the light switch. The boys huddled around the desk scattered like caught cockroaches; Ganju slid under the desk, half to hide and half out of his drunken stupor, Shinji ducked behind Ichigo, and Renji ran forward, his hands up in the air to plead for innocence.

"I'm sorry, we're sorry!" Renji said quickly. "We were just checking out your fly laptop, I swear!"

Shinji called out from behind his hiding place. "We hail it, it's absolutely hyped! You're in the butter zone baby!"

Rukia continued to glare at her friend, but Renji plastered on his most charming smile. If there was anyone who could smooth over the tresspass, it was him. He wiggled his tattooed eyebrows rapidly. "Come on girl, you know it's elite," he grinned.

After shaking her head, a smile spread over Rukia's lips as well. Pride swelled in her heart. "Yeah, you're damn right it is," she said with a laugh. Rukia hurried over to the desk and typed a few keys to open the control panel. "I want to triple the RAM..."

Kaien ran a hand through his hair and followed the girl, "accidentally" bumping Renji aside. "Well if it isn't monkey boy." He eyed the other intruders. "And the Decepticons. Uh Rukia, you're not going into his computer shit now, right?"

Rukia snapped her head up, but her fingers were still typing on the keyboard. Biting her lip, she looked at the screen, then at Kaien, back at the screen, and she finally held up a finger to ask him to wait just a little more.

"Right," Kaien sighed, and he ran his hand through his hair again. He looked down at his crotch, a little uncomfortable in his pants at the moment. The bastard wasn't going to suck itself. Kaien looked up to see Ichigo staring at him, and he shot him a weirded out look before he walked out of the room to go back into the party.

"The sensitive type," Ichigo muttered as he watched the receding figure exit.

Rukia froze from typing to look up at Ichigo, who apparently had been standing directly behind her. She pointed an accusing finger at his chest. "What is he doing here?"

"Relax Burn," Renji interjected. "He's my guest."

"Burn?" repeated Ichigo. There was that moniker again. He eyed Rukia, although she stood a foot under him. "You are Acid Burn? You booted me out of Karakura TV."

"What?"

Ichigo pointed to himself. "I'm Crash Override."

After staying silent for a few moments, the realization dawned over the raven-haired girl. She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing at the man in front of her. "You are the moron that's been invading my turf?" she said curtly.

"Whoa, wait!" Ganju interrupted. He decided to stand up, which ultimately, put him directly in the middle of the two feuding. He pointed at Ichigo. "Look guys...it's Crash," he said, and then pointed to Rukia. "And Burn!"

And Ganju broke out into boisterous laughter, despite the venomous glares Crash and Burn sent each other.

* * *

Although it was late at Hueco Mundo, the basement with the Gibson super computer still buzzed with electronics. Aizen Souske typed furiously at a company computer, and his subordinate Gin walked up to him with a hot cup of coffee. "That Kurosaki kid turned you down, huh?" he commented when he saw the disgruntled look on Aizen's face.

"It's okay," Aizen replied. He sipped the coffee gratefully. It was microwaved Mr. Coffee in a mug. "I disguised myself as a government agent and penetrated their national database."

"What for?"

"The Japanese government has access to criminal records all around the world, so it's only natural that they would also keep records of their own people. I just hacked into it."

"Congratulations?"

Aizen smirked. Although his talents were underappreciated at this company, they were far superior enough to avoid detection whenever he used them. "From here I get access to every piece of data ever stored on Kurosaki Ichigo's parents. Although they are still married, his mother recently took a job at the local hospital to help pay for the fee Ichigo incited from his convition when he was eleven. They boy, apparently, chose to go with her to Karakura."

"So?"

"So...if we get the mother, then we get the boy," Aizen replied with a seriously devious tone. He sipped his coffee happily.

* * *

The party wore on late into the night, and Rukia and her close group of male friends had taken to drinking on her balcony out in the open air. She could still hear the music from the living room of the apartment and others still partying on, but the noise level had dropped dramatically. She tried looking for Kaien amongst those still present, but she did not find him. Shivering from the chilly night, Rukia walked back into her room for a jacket when she noticed Ichigo sitting at her computer desk, intently watching the colors swirl from her screen saver, and Ganju passed out on the floor at his feet. Once again, she felt transfixed by his side profile and piercing eyes, but then the twitch in her eye reminded her that Kurosaki Ichigo was the obnoxious new hacker Crash Override. She watched as his hands hovered over the keyboard and then started typing on it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rukia snapped at him.

Ichigo looked up, the guilt apparent on his face, but he relaxed when their eyes met. She looked heaven-sent as the moonlight shone on her pale skin. "It's cool, I'm just looking."

"That's too much machine for you."

She heard Ichigo smirk, and Rukia made her way over to the desk. He drowned out her presence by typing furiously on the keyboard. Ichigo needed to quickly channel the nervous energy building inside of him when he realized that Rukia stood directly behind him. He navigated through her control panel quickly, then connected to the internet, anything to keep his mind off of the woman standing so close to him, the woman who he had seen enough of for the night.

"Shit Kurosaki," she said in a low voice. Rukia watched his fingers dance over the keys. "I hope you don't screw like you type."

Ichigo froze, then transitioned his keystrokes into a slower pace, although it resembled more like him poking single keys with his two index fingers. Rukia laughed to herself. "It has a killer refresh rate," Ichigo said, his voice coming out much louder than he anticipated.

"R4 chip, fastest thing on the market," she smiled as she lovered herself over Ichigo's shoulder to get a closer look at her laptop screen.

"Yeah, but it's not just the chip," Ichigo continued. He ran his hands along the length of the keyboard. "It has a great processor. But you knew that."

"Indeed."

"You sure this sweet machine's not going to waste?" If Rukia could see his face straight on, she would see the cocky smile displayed on Ichigo's face.

Rukia gritted her teeth together at the comment. "Crash Override...what was it? 'Mess with the best, die like the rest'?" she muttered in his ear.

"Yup," he said as he turned to look at the laptop's owner. He was met with Rukia's face inches from his, a scowl shooting daggers at him.

"Are you challenging me?" Rukia asked, with one hand resting on her hips while the other poked a finger directly into his chest.

"Name your stakes," Ichigo said innocently, standing up from his seat. He towered over the girl.

"If I win, you become my slave."

Ichigo looked away, a blush rising and very apparent on his face. "Your slave?" he repeated quietly.

"You wish!" Rukia smirked. She crossed her arms over her chest again for some security. "You'll do shit work, scan, crack copyrights...whatever I want, you pervert."

Ichigo frowned; he wasn't a pervert. "And if I win?"

Rukia let out a giggle a little too loud to be non-malicious. "Make it my first born."

"Make it our first date."

"You're not going to win."

"...And you have to smile."

Rukia's expression suddenly became grave when she realized that Ichigo wasn't relenting on his stakes. He really wanted to date her. She resumed glaring at Ichigo through narrowed eyes. "I don't DO dates," she spat. Rukia regained her composure. "But I don't lose either, so you're on."

She turned her back on Ichigo to walk out onto the balcony and announce the start of the challenge to their friends. Secretly, to herself, she smiled at the prospect of impending shenanigans.


	15. The Fight for Hanatarou

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. Happy birthday Ichigo! if you lived in real time, you'd be 22 and totally not jail bait!! )**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**The Fight for Hanatarou**

"So here's the deal, this is the contest we decided upon. Your objective is to hassle Police Captain Tousen Kaname and get one back for Hanatarou," Renji announced while he stood at the head of a Sereitei table. Sitting, one on each side of the table facing each other, were Rukia and Ichigo, their laptops closed in front of them like weapons waiting to be fired. Behind Rukia stood Ganju, and behind Ichigo stood Shinji.

"Our decisions are final, by a vote of two to one. No appeals!" Shinji added.

"The duel will last until we declare a winner," said Ganju. He massaged Rukia's shoulders vigorously, but she shrugged him off. She was busy staring down her opponent.

"Use only the commands, access codes, and passwords in your collection. You can't ask for any help from us or any outsiders," Renji said, finishing the last of the challenge rules. The two contenders stood from the table, taking their equipment with them. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," said Rukia, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. She glared at Ichigo. "Who is going to notify his next of kin?"

Ichigo flashed his cocky smile at Rukia, who glared even harder. She absolutely hated smiling. He reached out his hand, and Rukia took it, the two shaking hands and agreeing to the terms of battle.

* * *

"Ladies first," said Ichigo as they walked outside to a public pay phone.

Rukia rolled her eyes at him and connected her laptop to the phone. The guys stood around her to create a sort of screen so she could work undisturbed. Her fingers glided over her keyboard, and she broke into the records of Karakura Bank. Tousen Kaname had several active credit cards, so she maxed out every single one. However, she selected the credit card with the largest available balance, her intent buzzing maliciously with glee. She typed into the records that the maximum spent limit had been reached before navigating to the bottom of the page. A box to type retailer commands sat there waiting, with a label that said "final instructions".

Not wanting to see the box empty, Rukia typed: **DESTROY CARD**.

* * *

Later that night, Kaname Tousen left work in a particularily good mood. He showered and dressed himself for his hot date, a beautiful and buxom woman who he had been romancing for weeks. Finally, after many denied attempts to ask her out, the woman agreed to dinner, and Tousen had to look fresh for the date. As the Police Captain, Tousen hustled his way for reservations at the hottest restaurant in downtown Karakura, and certainly the woman ate her share of the expensive meal. Tousen asked for the bill, and he dropped his platinum card onto the waiter's plate.

Tousen thought something was wrong when the waiter returned with the silver tray and weilded a large pair of kitchen scissors in his other hand. The waiter cut up the card and let the pieces fall onto the table, while his date looked on in disgust.

* * *

The next day, the hacker group travelled into the mountains to a secluded temple for some quiet away from the bustle of the city. Ichigo set up his laptop against another public phone, just as Rukia done the other day. Although the guys did not set up a screen around the working hacker, Rukia did stand by the phone to watch Ichigo work. She had to mask her amusement while she read what Ichigo typed out loud.

"So Tousen is in the personal ads," she said. Her eyes wondered over the pictures seperated by neon graphics. There were men in leather chaps, women with long whips in their hands, and other in between wielding dangerous-looking sex toys. Rukia eyed Ichigo; there really was a perverted side to him. She read on. "Disappointed white male, crossdresser, looking for discreet friend to bring dreams to reality. Leather, lace, watersports. Transvestites welcome, bring your curiosity."

Rukia's eyes travelled along Ichigo's lean body. She figured that she could deal with a sexual deviant.

* * *

Tousen arrived at work in a disgruntled state. He didn't feel the greatest when he had to call his mother to come to the restaurant and loan him the money to pay for his dinner bill last night. When the Captain sat down, he noticed that all thirty of his phone lines were lit up, blinking because someone waited on hold for him to answer. The red number at the bottom of the machine also blinked; he had 47 voicemails.

Eyeing his phone, he lifted the receiver, pushing Line 1. His eyes grew wide, and he looked around the police station wondering if anyone could overhear the person talking on the phone. No one paid him attention, and Tousen covered his mouth while he talked back onto the phone. "I...I know where you can stick it, you sick asshole!" he growled.

Tousen reached out to push the button for the next line.

"I want to lick your earlobes, I want to lick your lips, I want to lick and suck your toes, I want to lick your nipples," said the voice, sounding low and suspiciously male.

"I will...I'll tell you where to lick it!" Tousen muttered, suddenly alarmed that each new phone call became more explicit than the last.

Line 14. "...And that's why they call me Stallion!"

Line 9. "My heart and my ass are steaming for you."

Line 23. "I'll spank you with my paddles."

"Arg!" screamed Tousen as he slammed the receiver down on his desk. His co-workers looked at him with concern, and the station suddenly became quiet. Waving casually for everyone to go back to work, Tousen inconspicuously reached under his desk and unplugged the phone line.

* * *

After the next school day, Rukia arranged for a limo to take the group to the Karakura observation deck downtown. The guys enjoyed the view from eighty stories above the town, and Rukia settled into a corner near the building's main satellite. She hacked into the Department of Motor Vehicles and located Tousen's driving records. When she found them, Rukia's fingers took on a life of their own.

**Kaname Tousen. 114 traffic violations and DUI conviction. Driving with invalid license.**

* * *

_"Is this how I've been arresting people?" _Tousen thought glumly.

A local Karakura officer kicked Tousen's feet out from under him while he forced him down against his car hood. His cheek hit the cold metal hard.

"Hey!" Tousen bellowed at the lower-ranked officer. He did not respond but continued to pat down Tousen. "Do you know who I am?! Do you even know who your superiors are?!"

It was clear that the arresting officer did not regard Tousen as a superior when he harshly pushed down on Tousen's head to shove him into the back of his police cruiser.

* * *

Ichigo typed lazily while he slouched in his chair at an internet cafe. After pretending to pay for their services, Ichigo hacked into their wireless network while his guy friends eyed their beautiful waitress dressed in a short gothic maid outfit from their table. Rukia ignored their excited whispers and sipped her coffee while her eyes focused on Ichigo above the rim of the cup. She deduced that Ichigo was undoubtedly a virgin.

Ichigo arched his eyebrow when he stumbled upon an interesting field in Tousen's personal file in Government records. Clicking on the box, Ichigo erased the current information and typed in his revised version.

* * *

This had officially been the worst week of Tousen's life. No wonder that he didn't trust technology; people were too stupid to use it. On top of his credit card getting destroyed on a date, his work phone flooded with explicitly sexual phone calls, and being unfairly arrested, Tousen had tried to buy groceries to find out that he had no funds in his checking account. He used the direct deposit option for his paychecks to automatically deposit into his bank account in order to save the trees, but apparently his latest paycheck did not go through. Finding a free phone line, since he still got a few random phone calls every day, Tousen dialed the station's accounting department.

"This is accounting, sir," said the pleasant voice on the line. "You enquired about an employee of ours, a Captain Tousen Kaname?"

"Yes."

"Our records indicate that he is deceased."

Tousen nearly jumped out of his chair. "I am WHAT?!"

* * *

"Dead," Ichigo announced casually.

"Dead?" repeated Renji.

"Dead, as in the opposite of alive and rigor mortis."

Shinji grinned, his smile spreading as wide as the line of his bangs. "Impressive."

"Super hero like even," Ganju chuckled while he circled the pool table. The group congregated afterschool at Sereitei, and while Ichigo gave his prank report, the others engaged in a game of pool. Ganju, who was up to take the next shot, aligned his pool stick with the cue ball.

"Whatever," Rukia huffed while she waited for her partner to take his shot. She looked at Renji. "What's the score?"

Renji leaned on his pool stick lazily, tapping his finger on his chin in feigned thought. He looked straight at Rukia and Ichigo, who both waited for his answer. "Tie."

The two hackers broke out in protest, causing Ganju to miss his shot. Renji shrugged unapologetically. "What! Due to Tousen-san's untimely demise, I guess you two will have to improvise the next round."

Ichigo smirked at his opponent. "Right. If I win, you wear a dress on our date."

"And if I win...so do you," she responded.

Ichigo looked down at Rukia, who showed no signs of intimidation. She pressed her lips into a tight line, unamused that their duel proceeded without one ahead of the other. Ichigo smiled widely.

"Deal."

His answer was almost drowned out by the laughter of the three other guys in their group.


	16. Raising the Stakes

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. thanks for the reviews and adds!**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Raising the Stakes**

Rukia hovered over her bed, feeling the wetness and internal heat match the excitement surging through her body. She could sense the nervousness in Ichigo's aura as he squirmed under the covers while his eyes were fixated on her almost naked figure inching towards him. His eyes drank in her modest curves illuminated by the moonlight; the pale light making her alabaster skin radiate a softness to her sheer sensuality. The milky surface clashed against the jet black lace lingere Rukia dressed in, and before he could think about the small amount of skin left unseen, one of Rukia's legs swung over him and he could feel the weight of her press down on his lap. Ichigo couldn't stop the groan he emitted when she sat down, and upon hearing the pleasurable noise, Rukia began to grind herself against his pelvis, the swirling motion driving Ichigo crazy.

Rukia smiled as she lowered herself to capture Ichigo's mouth with hers. He was unsure of himself, so Rukia easily took the lead, thrusting her tongue into his mouth, and the carrot top responded enthusiatically to her command. She felt his large hands roam over her exposed skin, the goosebumps trailing along his fingertips, until his palm met her breasts and he played with the front of her chest, almost clumsily like a child writing for the first time.

A laugh escaped her lips while she continued her assault on Ichigo's mouth. She trailed her kisses down along Ichigo's chin and under his neck, along the jawline that she had admired from afar. Now she could do whatever she pleased to the handsome hacker. Rukia pulled away with one last nibble along his jaw, but when she sat up, Kaien's disapproving, dark face scowled from underneath her.

Rukia screamed as she jumped up from her bed. Her pulse raced, but she quickly regained her composure when she saw the familiar surroundings of her bedroom, completely devoid of any other inhabitants. Her eyes rested on her laptop on the desk across the room, and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. She didn't mind that dream in the least.

* * *

Ichigo walked along the long school hallway, not bothering to look at any of his classmates who chatted loudly on either side of him. While he trudged on, the small figure of Kuchiki Rukia caught his eye, and she looked up at him while she leaned casually on her school locker. The edges of her lips curled up at him.

"Ichigo, I didn't know your size, so I guessed," she said before swinging open her locker door. Displayed neatly on a hanger was a leather thong with studded waistband and some sort of matching bikini top. Apparently Rukia had taken the initiative to pick out his evening wear for their date, or in the least, his undergarments. "You are man enough to stick with the deal, aren't you?"

Ichigo eyed the leather goods silently. At a loss for words, he walked on to his last class. He was so close to the school day ending.

* * *

When Ichigo returned home, his mother had already left for the hospital again. She was working much more than when she was a nurse at his father's clinic, which was in the same building as their home back in Tokyo. He took out ingredients for a sandwich and began to spread the mayonnaise on a slice of bread when he heard a knock at the front door.

Ichigo answered the door to find a delivery guy holding a rather large package. He signed it and noticed the note at the top that spelled out his name. Taking the package to the couch, Ichigo opened it to discover a slim laptop notebook. The outside looked very high-end, and he pushed on the power button once he flipped up the screen. An ugly video of Aizen Souske ran once it powered up.

"You wanted to know who I am, Zangetsu? Well let me explain the New World Order. Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai, the keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle...moo! I need your help, you need my help. Let me help you earn your spurs. Think about it, and enjoy the laptop."

A shadow moved over the talking figure before it vanished. "Zangetsu, tell me where the drive is."

* * *

Hanatarou read the latest issue of Shounen Jump while he relaxed on his bed. Since Unohana had stripped him of his other pleasures, he was at least happy he could keep up with his favorite manga, and started to read the others since he had nothing better to do. Unohana also forbid him to drink any more Mr. Coffee, so Hanatarou didn't know whether he looked really depressed or just downright tired when he looked in the mirror.

He heard his door open, but didn't bother to look at who entered his room. Unohana took the magazine out of his hands, but Hanatarou didn't protest. "You look pitiful," his mother said quietly. "You're not grounded anymore, okay?"

She left a kiss on her forehead before exiting the room. When she closed the door, Hanatarou jumped up on his bed in joy and to remove the cover on the air vent. His hand patted the wall until it found the small item taped to the inner wall of the vent. Then he grabbed his cell phone and called Renji.

* * *

Pacing around the local park, Hanatarou kept his eyes peeled for a head of fire red hair. Finally, he saw his friend strolling up towards him at a pace not quick enough, so he ran up to the much taller Abarai Renji.

"What's up?" Renji asked casually when he saw Hanatarou rush up to him.

"Dude dude dude, I have to talk to you for a minute, listen! I copied a garbage file from-"

Renji's lip curled. He couldn't believe Hanatarou called him out for such a trivial hack, and for one he executed so soon after his big bust. "Big deal. A garbage file's got shit in it, Hanatarou. Come on dude, Ichigo and Rukia are in the middle of an epic prank war. We should be at Sereitei."

"No, no, nooooo!" Hanatarou gasped. He pulled at Renji's collar. "It's like hot or something, I don't know what's up with it."

"Hanatarou, a garbage file hold miscellaneous data. Junk. Bits of stuff that's been erased. Come on, let's go-"

"I copied it from Hueco Mundo, okay?! They're asking me about it, but I don't know what the big deal is. I haven't had time to check it out, so will you look at it for me?" he finally spit out. Renji's eyes grew wide when he realized that his friend wasn't joking around and his bust from the police was legitimate. Hanatarou pulled out a jump drive from his pocket and held it up in front of him.

Renji had to act fast. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed the two of them talking. He didn't want to get in trouble either. He had already made a complete scan of the circle around him, but something caught his attention. Although a young blonde guy sat facing away from them, he held a wide lens camera over his shoulder, and it looked like he was taking pictures of...illegal activity. Grabbing Hanatarou's shoulders, he spun the two of them around so their backs were to the camera.

"Shit Hanatarou," he hissed. "You've got a tail."

Without another word, Hanatarou passed the USB drive into Renji's hand. Then he jetted off in a sprint, the tail suddenly jumping from his seat on the bench and running after Hanatarou. Renji also ran off in a different direction, not wanting to hold onto the USB any longer.

Instead of going to Sereitei to join up with his friends, and after he discarded the incriminating USB drive, Renji skateboarded home and ran directly into his computer room. He threw papers into the closest garbage, ripping out random papers from notebooks which he wrote down computer codes and random passwords. He knew he needed to get rid of any incriminating evidence in case the police would start to investigate him. And if they did, Renji knew that he would go to jail for murdering Hanatarou, and not for hacking.

* * *

No further incident happened that night, and Renji went to sleep, although he tossed and turned through the night because he was too worried about getting fried by the police. Renji thought about calling Rukia, or even Ichigo, but he already knew about the troubles that befell Hanatarou. He didn't want to involve any more of his friends for now, and that would be his own effort from keep the police from suspecting any more of them. Renji had two hours before he had to get up for school. Before he forced himself to close his eyes and try to sleep, he figured he could skip out on school and lay low for a bit.

Renji slept through his alarm clock, and when he woke up, he saw that he was already three hours late for school. He groaned, and although he had no intentions of going to school, Renji knew that he couldn't stay in Karakura while the trail on Hanatarou was still hot. Sitting up, he stretched out his tight muscles and rubbed the grogginess out of his eyes. Renji got to his feet, walking over to his window, ready to let in some sunlight in his dark room.

When he pulled the curtains open, six gun barrels aimed purposefully at Renji's face.


	17. Define Same Side

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. double post today...the next chappy is short, but i didn't feel like posting it by itself tomorrow.**

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Define Same Side**

Renji gritted his teeth to keep his temper from flaring at the two officers who escorted him through the holding cells in the local police station. Several incarcerated prisoners leered and called out to him, but with one stern look from the large tattooed Renji, they all shut up and sat back down in their cells. The officer led Renji into a small cell that had nothing in it except a phone on the wall. He looked at his clip board, memorizing the phone number to Renji's empty apartment, before he used his keys to unlock the protective case around the phone.

"You get one call, understand?" the officer said curtly. He dialed the phone number. "I'll be back in five minutes to get you."

Renji took the receiver in his hand, pretending to listen for someone to pick up his futile phone call, but when he saw the officer walk far enough away, Renji pushed the hangup button in a pattern. One push, three pushes, two pushes, then one last push.

"Hello, operator services," said a voice on the receiver.

"Hello operator," Renji replied, keeping an eye out for the returning officer. "I'm having trouble dialing a number."

"What is the number please?"

"555-4204."

"Just a moment."

Renji let out a long sigh. He thanked an invisible entity for reliable land lines.

"Hello?" said Rukia. She barely made it back home from school when she heard the phone ringing in her apartment.

"Hey, it's me."

"Renji?"

"I'm freaking out here man!" Renji hissed. He remembered to keep his voice low. "I'm in jail, can you believe it? Hanatarou wasn't making anything up, he really hacked into Hueco Mundo! He gave me a jump drive with a file he copied, and now I'm in jail! They're charging me with some serious shit, and there's stuff I didn't even do! Like inserting some virus called da Vinci?! And they keep asking about you guys."

Rukia took in a shaky breath. She knew Renji probably didn't have a lot of time on the phone if he was in jail, and her mind raced with the heaviness of his accusations. "You think they're going to bust us?" she asked.

"Yeah, Rukia," he replied. "You better figure out what's on that drive because we're being framed. It's in that place where I put that thing that time."

Rukia heard a click, and then silence. On the other side, Renji threw the receiver down on the phone. He did not want to risk the officer hearing anything of what they were talking about, and especially with who he was talking to. The officer led him back to his cell.

* * *

Rukia hurried back to her high school. There were still a lot of students still in the building, probably busy with after school clubs or just hanging out, but Rukia knew exactly where she needed to go. Taking a quick glance to either side of her, Rukia slipped into the boys' bathroom on the second floor of school. To her dismay, there were a lot of guys occupying the stalls and vanity area, their eyes all intent on her. She flashed a sultry smile their way. Rukia stood in front of a condom dispenser, pretending to read the descriptions on the front of the machine while her hands moved along the small crack between the back of the machine and the wall. Her fingers touched a small object, and she grabbed the jump drive, putting it into her back pocket.

When Rukia turned around, the guys were still smiling at her. She narrowed her eyes at them before facing the machine again. Pulling out a quarter, she turned the knob and grabbed the single packet that slid out in her palm. Never breaking her stare, Rukia flashed one last smile while tapping the condom between her fingers.

* * *

Kurosaki Masaki was busy in her kitchen cooking dinner when she heard a loud knock at the door. She dried her hands on a towel before making her way to the front door. She smirked when she peeked through the door hole, and opened the mahogany door.

"Hello," Masaki said with a smile. She looked over Rukia, and then stifled back a laugh when she looked at Ganju. "Now I see what all the fuss is about. Come in."

Masaki led the two through their apartment and knocked on Ichigo's door. "Kiddo, you have company."

Ichigo looked up from his lap top to see Ganju and Rukia standing in his doorway. Ganju seemed entertained with all of the things in his room, while Rukia refused to look him straight in the eye. She stood stiffly with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You've got a nice room," Ganju remarked, his gaze focused on the broken picture frames and fallen items that Aizen had knocked off his wall with a baseball bat. Ichigo never bothered to fix it.

"It's a long story," Ichigo shrugged. He refused to let his eyes wander from Rukia, clearly seeing her discomfort while in his territory.

Rukia could tell he knew how she was feeling, so she cut right to the chase. "We need your help," she said, skipping polite curtesies.

He smirked at her. "Do my ears deceive me?"

Rukia's lips parted slightly, and then she furrowed her brows at him. Sighing, Rukia turned to leave the apartment.

Ganju grabbed her shoulders tightly and spun her around. "No guys, truce. Listen, we have a higher purpose here, a wake up call for the Nintendo Generation. We demand free access to data, and well, it comes with a price. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Both Rukia and Ichigo stared at the sudden change in the usually bumbling man's demeanor. Ganju blinked at them silently, unmoved by their disbelief. "What guys? It's Corinthians One, Chapter 13, verse 11...no duh. Come on."

Rukia took in a deep breath to calm herself. She didn't know how she would react to any more of Ichigo's smart ass remarks. "Hanatarou and Renji are being framed. We need your help to figure out what's on this jump drive."

Ichigo pressed his lips together and looked down at the floor. He already knew what they were talking about, and what they probably wanted before they even got to his place, but now he stood at a crossroads with memories of his court sentencing flashing intermittenly in his mind. Ichigo shook his head. "I can't. Everybody who touches that thing gets busted, and I can't afford to get arrested. I'm sorry."

"Maybe I'll go to the bathroom or something," Ganju said after a pregnant silence fell over the room. He nudged Rukia with his elbow, not very discreetly, and she glared at the larger man while he slipped through the door.

Rukia pushed the door closed, reluctant to look Ichigo in the eyes again. Even after how they met, all the pranks they went through, and the downtime they spent with their group of friends, Rukia knew something special and smart sparkled behind his golden eyes. She didn't trust very many people, but when she looked at Ichigo, Rukia knew there wasn't a malicious bone in his body. As much as she had tried to cover it up, Ichigo managed to bring out all of her faults, insecurities, and shortcomings, although for once, she wasn't ashamed of them.

"You know, since my sister was murdered, she instilled within me her philosohpy that no matter who you are, if you have the power to fight against what you think is wrong, then you have a responsibility to do so. It doesn't matter if you're a man or woman, young or old, or whether or not hacking is right or wrong. I haven't been away from my computer in years because, I will admit it, I am scared. And I've never asked for anything from anyone, not even my brother-in-law, but I am asking you now Ichigo, help us."

Rukia couldn't help the shakiness in her voice, but she was doing her best to level with him without outrightly begging him. Rukia walked closer to him, her breath stolen by his steely amber eyes, and Ichigo made no effort to stop her or respond. His eyebrows dipped low, letting her know that he was gearing up for another apology, and Rukia shook her head.

"What is it with you?" she aked, her voice rising with anger. "I know we've been playing games, but we're supposed to be on the same side. We really need your help_. _I really need your help."

Ichigo looked away, unable to take the vulnerability that shone through Rukia's tough exterior. She had no idea who he really was. "I'm sorry but I can't," he said quietly.

Clenching her fists, Rukia threw the USB jump drive on Ichigo's desk. Her face returned to its unforgiving, steely expression. "Well could you just make a copy of the file and hide it in case we get busted? Just so we have something to give to our lawyers, something that hasn't been tampered with? Can you do that, _Crash Override_?" Her last words came out dripping with venom.

The opening of Ichigo's bedroom door interrupted their conversation. Masaki's head popped through the opening. "Listen guys, help yourself to anything in the fridge. Ganju has," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Rukia replied with a half-smile, and Ichigo nodded silently. The door closed, and the two were left alone once more.

"I'll copy it," Ichigo said flatly when his visitor looked at him again.

Rukia gave him a chaste nod. "Thank you," she mumbled before exiting Ichigo's room to collect her escort before he ate all of the Kurosaki's food.


	18. Selling Out

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. second chappy for today...make sure you read both so you get the whole story! huge thanks to my core reviewers...you guys really make my day! **

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Selling Out**

Aizen stretched out on his favorite leather chair in his bachelor loft. He typed lazily on his laptop, finding the file he wanted, and then reached out for his phone.

"Hello?" answered Kurosaki Ichigo.

"We searched Renji's things, but his shit came up clean," Aizen said, not bothering to greet the boy on the other end of the line. "But the girl...the girl has the file I need."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes when he heard the evil voice slither through the receiver. "I told you, I don't play well with others."

"Turn on your laptop and set it to receive a file."

When Ichigo complies, a long an extensive criminal record flashes across the screen. A woman with a weathered and forlorn mug shot stares at him, and then suddenly, the picture morphs into a picture of his own mother.

"Kurosaki Masaki is now a wanted felon in the district of Shinjuku. Forgery embezzlement, two drug convictions, plus she jumped parole. When Masaki-chan is arrested, she will not have a trial, she will not pass Go, she will go directly to jail. Then I change this file back to the original, and your mom disappears."

Anger surges through Ichigo as now his knuckes turned white while he gripped the phone receiver. "That's bullshit," he hissed.

"What can I tell you? Computers never lie. Your mom will be arrested at work, handcuffed, and later, strip searched."

Ichigo slammed his hand on his desk, blood immediately dotting his tight knuckles. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. "You lay a finger on her, and I'll kill you."

"Kid, don't threaten me," Aizen replied lazily. He smiled as he read the criminal record on his screen. "There are worse things than death and, uh, I can do all of them!"

Seething, Ichigo clicked the phone off and threw it across his bedroom. He instantly regretting losing his cool and hoped that his mother didn't hear the commotion in his bedroom. Quietly opening his door, Ichigo took a look around the living room. He frowned when he saw his mom passed out on the couch. He tiptoed over to her sleeping figure, her long brown hair falling gracefully around her peaceful face. Ichigo grabbed a blanket from his room and spread it over his mom's body. She stirred a little, but then snuggled deeper into the couch. Sighing, Ichigo ran a hand through his orange hair before slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder and exiting the apartment.

* * *

A light drizzle overtook Ichigo while he paced the streets of Karakura. He didn't mind, although he hated the rain, and Ichigo tried to sort through his thoughts. He loved his mother, and regretted everything he had put his family through, but the sound of Rukia's wavering voice brought him a new pain of turning his back on his newfound friends. Ichigo remembered how hard he worked to gain back his mother's trust, and he had avoided trouble for the last seven years, at least until he met Aizen Souske, basically a technological devil. Gritting his teeth and feeling his feet burn with each new step, Ichigo made his way to a desolate alley to search for a simple pay phone.

Grabbing the receiver, he put in his change, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Talk to me."

Ichigo took in a deep breath to steady himself. "I got it. But listen, Rukia didn't and doesn't know what's on it. She came to me to figure it out, and she's not the one who planted the virus. Leave her alone."

Aizen cackled over the phone. "Hey, don't worry kid. If she's innocent, then she'll be fine. And your mommy is safe now, okay?"

Frowning, Ichigo replaced the receiver on the hook. He wondered if he was doing the right thing, and Ichigo was left wondering this same question for another hour. The student paced the same street over and over, passing the pay phone he used to call Aizen, and kept looking over his shoulder, waiting for their deal to go down.

Finally, after waiting another thirty mintues, a limo turned down the street Ichigo prowled, and his alertness shot up when the vehincle slowed to a stop in front of him. The window rolled down, revealing Aizen's smug face. Ichigo held up the USB drive, and a pale hand reached out to grab it. Once in Aizen's possession, the limo peeled out, leaving Ichigo alone in the alley once more. He glared at the receeding vehicle, and Ichigo turned to run down the opposite way. The horrid feeling of regret boiled in the put of his stomach.


	19. Deciphering da Vinci

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hacked. **

**i'm having major personal issues at the moment. plus i'm decidedly unsatisfied with the next chappy of "Never Let This Go"...bleh! anyway, i'm off to see "The Dark Knight", hopefully i'll be in a better mood later.**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Deciphering da Vinci**

Rukia's laptop had been on for the last five hours, simply opening and processing Hanatarou's garbage file. She called over Shinji and Ganju to help her decipher the code that extended infinitely along her screen. Rukia heard footsteps travel through her apartment, but she didn't pay any attention to it.

"Rukia, listen," a voice said in her ear.

Shivers traveled down her spine when she heard Ichigo's husky voice and hot breath in her ear. She played cool, and turned with her finger up towards him. "Uhm, hold on..."

"I have to tell you something."

Ganju hit his arm. "Hold on a second dude," he said before returning his eyes to look at the screen over Shinji's shoulders.

The blonde pushed on a few keys, but let the code unfurl itself. "Look at this, it's so lean and clean!" he exclaimed. Shinji's eyes drank in the letters and patterns, but it was too muddled to read anything right away.

"Looks like a hacker wrote it," added Ganju.

Rukia jumped forward, a sequence catching her attention. She pointed at the screen. "Look at this! This thing is dense."

Shinji shook his head, a frown forming on his lips. "It's fried man, it's incomplete. This is taking forever and a day to figure out. I'm going to make some coffee," he said and stood from his seat.

Shinji brushed against Ichigo, not bothering to acknowledge him, and the other hacker stepped forward to sit in the chair. Ichigo's fingers immediately went to work on the file, deftly surfing through the millions of symbols flashing across the monitor.

"Tag, you're in," Ganju smirked. He flashed a confident smile at Rukia, who raised her eyebrows back at him. Apparently, something changed his mind.

* * *

Ichigo typed for hours, searching, analyzing, and reverse engineering the garbage file. Even though it looked large right now, Ichigo realized that the file was only about 70 complete, a fact that did not work to the hackers' advantage. Rukia ordered pizzas and brought food into her bedroom to keep her friends fed, while Shinji and Ganju retrieved files or codes that Ichigo needed at random times. Rukia sipped her Mr. Coffee quietly while she stood across the room from Ichigo. The other two fell asleep while fighting over the last piece of pizza, and a small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth behind her mug. Looking forward again, her eyes met with Ichigo, who looked guilty that he had been caught staring at the raven-haired girl. They kept their gaze until Ichigo smirked at her.

"You didn't object to me using your precious computer this time," he said quietly.

Rukia returned the expression, but kept her smoldering eyes locked on Ichigo. "I've been watching you long enough to think that you can handle my machine."

Ichigo smiled broadly, sitting up a little more straighter at the desk. Rukia glided across the room, this time being the one who leaned close into his ear. "But working that computer is a lot different than working its owner." She leaned down, her cheek brushing Ichigo's and her chin rested on his shoulder. "You still type too fast for my personal tastes."

Rukia walked off to continue drinking out on the balcony, and Ichigo immediately slouched back into his seat, his ego deflated a bit. Outside, she knew Ichigo couldn't see her smiling widely. She kept teasing him from her seat along the railing. "You need to learn that when you're working on certain things, you need to take your time," she called back loudly. "If you're not in a rush, then you're not going anywhere until the very right moment until you've ridden the ride! You take your time, build up the anticipation, and then go!"

Ichigo kept typing through her ramblings. His brows furrowed when he found it suddenly difficult to concentrate on the miles of symbols on the screen and not imagine building up anticipation with the feisty girl, and then everything clicked. Ichigo stopped typing. "I got it," he said.

"Yeah right Ichigo. I bet you've never seen a naked woman before!"

"No, Rukia, guys...I got it!" Ichigo yelled again, this time louder. Ganju stopped snoring and tilted his head up. He looked to his side, grabbed the last piece of pizza and shoved it in his mouth, before he hit Shinji in the chest. They both trudged over to the desk. Rukia also walked inside.

"This isn't a virus," Ichigo said, pointing at the code. "It's a worm!"

"What's this worm eat?" Shinji asked, rubbing his eyes.

"It nibbles. Do you see this?" Ichigo asked while he scrolled along a long list of single line codes. "This is every financial transaction Hueco Mundo conducts. It lists everything from million dollar deals to what an employee pays for staples."

Rukia leaned closer to the screen. "So the worm takes a little bit of money from each transaction."

"And no one's caught it because the money isn't really gone," Ichigo continued. "It's just data being shifted around."

"Right. And when the worm's ready, it zips out with the money and erases its tracks."

Ichigo nodded, glad that Rukia understood what he just uncovered. "Hanatarou got cut off before he got to that part. Check it out! By this point, the worm's already running at, what, twice the speed as when it started."

"And at this rate, it ends its run in..."

"Two days," Shinji interjected.

Ichigo nodded, but rubbed his tired and strained eyes with his hand. His brain struggled to do more calculations. "By judging this segment alone, the worm has already eaten about..."

"190 million, in American dollars," Ganju fnished.

Shinji let out a long whistle while Rukia paced around her room. Her heart raced with the excitement of uncovering a conspiracy in a large scale corporation, but her thoughts went out to Hanatarou and Renji, who had called her from jail. She looked at her companions with a worried expression. "Whoever wrote this needs somebody to take the fall. That's Renji, and that's Hanatarou, and that's us. We've got to get the rest of the file so we can find out where the money is going before the worm disappears, and then we can find out _who_ created it."

"I know who created it," Ichigo said suddenly. All of his friends eyes turned to him, and he almost regretted his outburst.

"What?" Rukia asked, stepping closer to him. She moved so her body squarely faced the much taller Ichigo, but neither backed down from the intensity radiating from between both of their bodies.

"This Hueco Mundo security creep," he continued, well aware of Rukia's close proximity. He stared into her violet eyes and immediately felt himself drowning in them, afraid of the emptiness he would feel when their gaze breaks and afraid of her reaction when he was about to confess what he had done. "I gave him a copy of the file you gave me."

Rukia's eyes flashed with anger from the bottom of the dark pools. "You what?!" she hissed, even though it barely came out because she was breathing so hard to control her anger.

"I didn't know what was on it," Ichigo replied, his voice dropping low. His eyes followed, unable to look at her anymore. Making the right decision always happened to be making the more difficult one.

"Come on man," Ganju said, shaking his head. "That's universally stupid man!"

"Yo, you're an amateur!" added Shinji. He squatted down, putting his hands on his head. He didn't want to go to jail.

Rukia crossed her arms over her chest. The other two were busy muttering things to themselves, but the female hacker silently narrowed her eyes at Ichigo. Something about him always bothered her. "Why did he go to you?" she asked quietly.

Sighing, Ichigo ran a nervous hand through his fluffy hair and closed his eyes, once again reliving the nightmare of his trial. He had to admit everything if he was going to help his friends with this fight. "I have a record, okay? I was...Zangetsu."

Shinji's head jerked up. He strode over to Ichigo, putting his hands on his shoulders roughly. "The _Zangetsu_? Crashed fifteen thousand and seven systems in one day?" Shinji closed his eyes, accessing the depths of his memory. "Biggest crash in history, front page, Japanese Times, August 10, 2001."

He reopened his eyes to embrace Ichigo closely. "Yo dude, I seriously doubted you up until right now. Guys, this is Zangetsu!"

"That's far out," laughed Ganju, and suddenly he and Shinji were in better, celebratory moods.

Rukia, however, was far from impressed. Her arms stayed crossed, this time, she shifted her weight onto one leg, jutting her hips out in defiance. "Well that's great. There goes your first-choice college dreams," she sneered coldly. If the authorities knew Ichigo's first alias, which they probably already did, it would be harder to move with him on their side.

Ichigo pushed aside Shinji, who didn't mind in the least. He kept on dancing around the room, slapping high-fives with Ganju. Ichigo clutched at Rukia's shoulders, and to his amazement, she did not brush him off. Their faces were once again dangerously close to one another's, and Ichigo felt the temptation of stealing a kiss to appease the small wonder. "I'll make it up to you."

"Yeah? How?!"

"I'll hack the Gibson!" he said with all of his resolve. Ichigo felt a fire burning within him, and he felt so damn tired of having to prove himself all of the time. Right now, all he wanted to do was use this fire for her.

Upon hearing his outburst, Shinji returned to his elite friend's side. "Dude, they will trace you like that. Cops are going to find you, and find you with a smoking gun, if you try to hack that Gibson."

"Fucked if I care," Ichigo replied, shaking his head and never moving his eyes away from Rukia.

Shinji shook his head furiously, trying to get Ichigo to look at him with no avail. He really did not want to go to jail. "Look, even if you have the passwords, it'll take you ten minutes to get in, and then you still have to find the files. I mean, the cops will have you in five minutes."

Ganju grabbed the short hairs on his head, clearly torn between helping his friends and walking away from the apartment a free man. He looked at Rukia and Ichigo, who were still standing off from each other, and Shinji who also paced, muttering the slim possibilities of being able to pull off this hack. "Wow, we are fried!" he gritted between his teeth.

The resolve settled in Ichigo's fiery eyes and it never wavered for a second. Rukia let her serious expression relax from her face, and she pushed out her pink lips in a small pout. "Never send a boy to do a woman's job. With me, we can do it in seven."

Looking at her and catching on, Ganju stared at Rukia with a swelled chest. "You're still both screwed. If I help, we can do it in six minutes."

"Neophytes," Shinji said, shaking his head even more furiously now. "I'll have to save all of your asses. I help, we do it in those five minutes."

"Okay," Ichigo said loudly. "Let's go shopping."

He turned on his heels and walked out of the apartment. Rukia quietly watched him leave with Ganju following excitedly. Shinji took one last, remorseful look at Rukia, and followed the three who alread left. He didn't know what Ichigo had planned in his head, but all Shinji knew was his absolute love for not ending up in jail.


	20. Prepare for War

**Disclaimer: i do now own Bleach or Hackers. thanks for all of the reviews, and i'm getting out of mah funk. oh, and "Dark Knight", ftw!!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

**Prepare for War**

Night draped over Karakura Town, and two figures dressed in all black moved silently through the night. Ichigo worked quickly with large metal pliers to cut through the chain link fence meant to keep intruders out of Hueco Mundo Mineral Corporation. When he was done, he waved towards Rukia, who dressed all out for the part. She even covered her face and added with a black hood, she looked like a modern day, midget-sized ninja with only her eyes visible in her outfit. Ichigo squatted down low and Rukia stepped on his hands so he could lift her up over the side of a large recycling dumpster. Ichigo jumped up, his tall frame making it easy to reach the top of the dumpster and lift himself over the edge after her.

He landed directly on top of Rukia.

Although her eyes narrowed at Ichigo, a glint of mischief spaked in them as well. She squirmed under the weight of his body.

"You know, if I didn't live by a strict code of honor, I might take advantage of this situation. Erotically, as it were," Ichigo smirked, looking down at the black-clad ninja.

Never breaking eye contact with him, Rukia began to paw through the many pockets in Ichigo's outfit. Her hands roamed under his leather jacket, across his chest, which Rukia noted as feeling very solid, and down to his hips. Ichigo squirmed as his fingers prodded at and glided over his body.

Suddenly the contact stopped, and Rukia seperated their faces with a flash light. She turned it on enthusiastically, the corners of her eyes upturned with a hidden smirk of her own.

Sighing, Ichigo took out another flashlight, and the two began to search the mound of discarded papers in search for access codes and employee log-ins. They stuffed useful papers into Ichigo's backpack and rummaged as fast as they could in the smelly dumpster. After an hour of searching, they nodded to each other, and they stood up, looking over the top of the dumpster. A security guard spotted them, and he aimed his flashlight at the intruders.

"Hold it right there!" the guard yelled.

Rukia ducked down to reach for something hidden on her ankle. She popped back up, aiming a gun at the officer, and Ichigo froze, unable to stop Rukia or run away for himself. Before he could react, Rukia fired.

A bright red flare shot across the lot and hit a car behind the guard, who dropped to the ground to shield himself.

"Shit!" Ichigo yelled, peering over the top of the dumpster to check out the damage.

"It's my subway defense system," Rukia replied blandly, her voice muffled by the cloth over her mouth. She grabbed Ichigo's hand and motioned him to follow her. "Let's go!"

* * *

Across Karakura, Shinji peered over an open manhole in the middle of the street, lazily donning a yellow hard hat that happened to match his outfit. He grinned, thinking about how a simple game of janken got himself and Ganju out of the difficult task of dumpster hopping and assigned to the much easier mission of gathering hardware supplies. He wondered how Rukia and Ichigo were smelling about now.

"He's way down there," Shinji said aloud to his partner, peering again down the sewer hole.

Behind him, Ganju weaseled through the back of a phone company truck while the single employee was doing his job dutifully and working underground.

"Ta da!" Ganju cheered, jumping out of the truck with a hard hat of his own and workbelts in each hand.

Shinji glared at him. "Yo brain dead, the manual."

Looking visibly hurt and with a pout on his face, Ganju lowered his treasures and went back into the truck. When he turned around, he had a thick manual tucked underneath his arm.

"Hey!" came a voice from under Shinji.

The blonde had been too busy watching Ganju, making sure that he got all of the things they needed, that he failed to look out for the technician who had climbed up the ladder and spotted them. Shinji and Ganju looked at the rising worker, at each other, and then out onto the street. They clutched each other and pointed behind the worker.

"TRUCK!!"

The technician let go of the ladder to cover his head, therefore dropping back into the sewage tunnel. Using the distraction to their advantage, Shinji and Ganju ran off with their precious loot.

* * *

The next morning, the Karakura Police Station awoke with its usual bustle of arriving officers, processing criminals, and the desk work in between. Walking in with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, Captain Tousen nodded to the secretary stationed outside of his office. Awkwardly, she nodded back at him.

"Did you find it?" she hissed.

Rising from under her desk, Ganju kept a hand on his yellow hard hat and another at his waist where his utility belt pulled down at his pants. His job of rigging bugs in the police station had its perks, as he wiggled his eyebrows at the pretty secretary. "Your phone is all right," he said with a nod. "The problem must be somewhere else."

Turning to add more bugs to other phone lines, Ganju strutted away, feeling the air conditioning cool his exposed butt crack.

* * *

Lord Vizard had his own mission that morning as well. Dressed in clean-looking attire, including straight leg pants, a matching argyle sweater, and a coordinating golf cap, Shinji delivered flowers to random women working in the Hueco Mundo Mineral Company. His gift of photographic memory came in handy as he gazed over dozens of workers' shoulders, gathering their passwords and personal log-ins to the company network.

While making his last rounds, he passed two men who caught Shinji's attention, but he forced himself to hide it. He looked through the bouquet of flowers he used to hide his face, but Shinji felt the coldness radiating from behind the man's thick-rimmed glasses. The other, who followed the first man with the glasses and wavy brown hair, smiled with a sleek, fox-like face. His silver hair gleamed under the florescent lights. Shinji only nodded before he made his way towards the building exit, dropping off the bouquet at the front desk.


	21. Memorandum

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. i was too busy to update earlier, but here it is! if all goes to plan, this story will be done by Friday.**

**thanks to English-X-Rose for such an enthusiastic review; and lots of love goes back out to Ichimaru-taicho, XcaliberSA, & MrsKurosaki...all of your words make me smile.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One**

**Memorandum**

Ichimaru Gin opened the door for his superior, and Aizen swept through the board room silently. From the basement of the building, Aizen used the Gibson computer to log onto his original file of the da Vinci virus. He drew up the command to launch or cancel the virus's execution, which infiltrated and played on every screen in the massive building, and Aizen began to feed off of the panic ensuing from the Hueco Mundo employees. Aizen knew he needed to move before the hacker kids tried to pull off anything, all while Gin paced the length of the room.

"So they had a large chunk of the garbage file?" he asked nervously. "How much do they know?"

"Not everything...but enough to implicate us."

Gin stopped pacing to stomp his foot down. "But you said the worm was untraceable!"

Aizen scoffed; he thought his partner looked like a child with his worried expression on his face. "It is...to _civilians_. But they're _hackers_. Stop worrying, all we have to do is launch the da Vinci, and then they'll all be put away."

"Launch the da Vinci virus?! You can't to that Aizen-sama!"

Pushing his glasses to the top of his nose bridge, Aizen returned to typing on a keyboard linked to the Gibson computer. He moved the cursor to highlight the command "Launch".

"No one believes the guilty. Besides, by the time they realize the truth, we will be long gone with all of our money." he replied. Gin opened his mouth to protest, but Aizen shook his head with a steely look, making the silver-haired man to stop. "Look, there is no right and wrong. There is only fun and boring. A thirty year prison sentence sounds pretty dull to me, so who do you prefer serves it...us or them?"

Gin could only watch in silence as his superior pushed the "Enter" button.

The screen cut back to the video of the man with curly hair. The colors swirled around, and its message replayed on all of the televisions and monitors, echoing throughout Hueco Mundo Corporation. "Unless fifty million dollars are transferred to the following numbered account in seven days, I will capsize five tankers in the Hueco Mundo fleet."

On another screen next to the larger Gibson one, five lights flashed in the sonar display. Out in the Pacific Ocean, the tankers began to fill with water, the threat of capsizing imminent.

Smiling, Aizen reached over to grab the nearest telephone. When he called Captain Tousen's phone line, he went straight to his answering machine. "This virus goes off tomorrow morning at 10:30, and those hackers tried to get into our system again. At this point, I insist you take more strenuous action, or Hueco Mundo Mineral will hold the Karakura Police responsible."

* * *

In truth, Tousen had been listening to the message left on his machine. He had gotten into the habit of screening his phone calls since the influx of perverted phone calls. With a long sigh, he lifted the receiver and put in an order to his superior. "Get me arrest warrants on Kuchiki Rukia, alias Acid Burn; Shiba Ganju, alias Bonnie; Kurosaki Ichigo, alias Crash Override, also known as Zangetsu; and Hirako Shinji, alias Lord Vizard. We pick them up tomorrow morning, at nine o'clock."

* * *

Listening through a pair of headphones, Ganju nodded to his partner in crime. He turned off the receiver for the bugs he had planted earlier. "Snoop onto them-"

"-as they snoop onto us," Shinji finished. He put down his own set of headphones as well. "Time to make the call."

Ganju dialed Rukia's number onto his cell phone. She answered briskly.

"Yeah, it's Rukia."

"Hey Burn...we have a little problem here."

* * *

The four hackers congregated on the subway system while dawn broke over their hometown. After hearing the call for their arrest, they decided to keep moving around the city to stay away from police detection. Rukia found solace in the smooth rocking of the subway car, and she focused her thoughts. They needed to move fast.

"So what have we got?" she asked the guys.

"We got fifty passwords, plus whatever Polaroid Head here got inside Hueco Mundo," Ichigo answered.

Shinji glared at him, then went back to massaging his temples. Account names and their matching passwords swirled inside his head, and the patterns were giving him a terrible migraine. "I got a lot, all right? I can't count how many, but...my head hurts."

Ganju emptied his latest favorite accessory, the workbelt, of bits and pieces of trash he pulled from the garbage under the secretary's desk. He clutched something interesting that had caught his eye, when he wasn't staring up the woman's skirt, a company memo passed with the title of "URGENT". Ganju skimmed the paper quickly.

"Guys, check this out. Hueco Mundo is in some serious shit," he said out loud. "What's the da Vinci virus?"

"What?" Ichigo snapped, annoyed that he had lost count of their acquired passwords for the third time.

Ganju pointed to the paper in his hand. "This is a memo about how the company is going to deal with those oil spills that happened on the fourteenth."

Rukia wrinkled her eyebrows. "Oil spills?" she asked, to nobody in particular.

"Whoa, brain-dead. Today is the thirteenth," Shunji interjected.

Ganju held up the memo in his defense. He knew that he had stolen this paper from the secretary's garbage, and the text was printed clearly. "Why do they have a memo about something that hasn't happened yet?"

"Wait a minute," Rukia said quietly. The intent look on her face meant that something was ticking away in her head. She took the paper from Ganju to study it herself. "The fourteenth is the same day that the worm ends its run. And da Vinci virus? That's what Renji said he was being charged with. And look!" Rukia pointed to a line in the second paragraph, quoting its contents. "Infecting ballast programs of the Hueco Mundo tankers...they're blaming hackers!"

"Damn!" Shinji cursed. He paced around the subway car for a few moments, then sat down on a bench, his hands holding the top of his head. They were getting sucked into a major conspiracy while he wished and hoped with all of his might that he wouldn't end up in jail.

"A worm AND a virus?" Ganju muttered, taking a seat next to his blonde friend. "The plot thickens."

Silence overcame the subway car, and the group's thoughts were drowned out by the rumbling of their transportation. Ichigo stared quietly out of the window, thinking about how much hacking had gotten him into trouble, even though he really wasn't looking for any of it. He wasn't sure of a lot of things in the world, but all Ichigo really knew was how to control and use technology to its full capacity.

Rukia eyed the carrot top while she stood against a vertical support bar. She eyed the memo, realizing that this problem was bigger than all of the occupants in the car. Rukia straightened her stance while bracing herself for the subway to slow at the current exit. Her eyes darted to the opening doors. "I have an idea guys. We have a few hours, right, until we get arrested? Just stay low, I'm going to get some help."

Stepping out onto the solid platform, Rukia suddenly turned around when she realized no one was following her. The car doors began to close when she reached out to stop them. She eyed Ichigo. "Are you coming?"

Meeting the violet gaze, Ichigo stood up obediently.

"May the Force be with you," Ganju smirked while he watched the couple ran through the station. To him, Ichigo looked suspiciously whipped.


	22. Razor and Blade, redux

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. **

**thanks to NC2001 for your kind reviews!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**Razor and Blade, redux**

It was past four in the morning, but the loud techno music played on in the underground club. The people looked like they had been dancing all night already, and showed no signs or intentions of stopping anytime soon. Ichigo and Rukia descended the steps that lead towards the crowded dance floor illuminated by bright neon lights, and upon spotting her target, Rukia stopped her escort.

She pointed straight ahead, across the room at the main stage elevated above the dance floor. "There they are!" she exclaimed.

Ichigo squinted, his eyes trying to focus through the orgy of darkness, smoke, and flickering lights. He managed to detect the silhouettes of a dancing blonde, who looked more like his body was twitching rather than dancing, and a voluptuous olive-skinned woman, who body rolled with a purpose. "Razor and Blade?!" Ichigo yelled back. Rukia nodded with a satisfied look, but he was ready to burst her bubble. "They're flakes!"

Rukia promptly slapped Ichigo in the arm. "They're elite! Let's go get them!"

Without another word, she darted off into the crowd, not bothering to check if Ichigo still followed her. With Rukia's small frame, it was easier for her to navigate through the moshing bodies, and unfortunately for Ichigo, it was easy for him to lose sight of Rukia in the craziness. Ichigo looked up to make sure he was on course for the stage, and when he looked down, Ichigo completely separated from the smaller girl. The music began to pick up, and the crowd surged with energy, pushing Ichigo deeper and deeper within the people. Luckily, Ichigo was taller than most of the people around him, and he looked back at his goal area. He saw Razor and Blade hug the DeeJay before disappearing off of the stage.

"Shit!" Ichigo muttered. With one heavy grunt, he pushed his way through the sea of bodies, fighting the whole way to the stage. Once he got there, an angry Rukia met him with another slap to his arm again. He felt the bruise forming already.

"They left already! Where were you?!" she yelled, her voice amazing audible over the music.

Ichigo tried to say something back, but she wouldn't have any of it. Shaking her head, Rukia grabbed Ichigo's wrist and pulled him onto the stage, pushing her way behind black curtains. Hidden to the dancing crowd, a long hallway with television screens aligned each side of the walls. Ichigo eyed their surroundings while he let Rukia pull him to wherever they were going. He didn't ask how she knew her way around the back area.

The hallway opened up into a blank but expansive room. There was a cluster of televisions hanging in one corner of the room, and Rukia pulled them right into the middle of them.

"I don't like this," Ichigo whispered, the feeling that they were definitely being watched hanging over him. On the monitors, a live feed of Rukia and himself played in black and white.

Suddenly, a robotic arm with a revolver on the end pointed directly at Ichigo's chest. He jumped back onto Rukia. "I definitely don't like this!" he hissed.

The monitor in front of Rukia changed to a video of Blade. "What do you want?" he said, peering with shadowy eyes from under his striped hat.

"Uhm," stuttered Ichigo. The robotic arm poked him once in the chest, and he promptly put his hands up in the air. "We come in peace?"

Rukia elbowed him in the side, partly for straying from their mission and partly for his corniness. She looked directly into the camera, next to the monitor with Blade's image on it. "We need your help. If you're up to it."

"She's buff, ballsy," said Razor, who suddenly appeared next to her partner in crime. She grinned as wide as the cheshire cat. "Kisuke-kun, I like her. Can we keep her?

Blade grinned and nuzzled Razor's soft cheek. "If you want her, you may keep her Yoruichi-chan. Waste the dude though."

Ichigo screams when the revolver pokes him in the chest again, and the trigger in the back sets itself magically. He looks at Rukia desperately, but she only rolls her eyes at him. Rukia pushed the robotic arm so it aimed away from the hacker. The trigger goes off, and a large flame sparks through the end.

"It's a cigarette lighter," she said, glaring at the sweating Ichigo.

* * *

"A virus called da Vinci will cause oil spills at 10:30 AM local time tomorrow," Rukia explained, not phased by the affectionate behavior displayed by the famous Razor and Blade, or as she knew them, Shihouin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke. Urahara nuzzled Yoruichi's neck while she giggled continously under his touch.

Ichigo coughed, trying to steady his mind and keep away increasingly perverted thoughts. He remembered his dream about Rukia, imagining himself tickling her with his mouth as soon as this business with Hueco Mundo was over. He steadied his voice. "It's somehow connected with the worm that's stealing the money."

"We need your help to overload the Gibson so we can kill the da Vinci virus and download the worm program," Rukia finished.

Urahara eyed her. "She's rabid, but cute. I think I can deal with her."

Yoruichi adjusted her tank top and crossed her legs with an arrogant aura around her. "See kids, we are very busy. A TV network that wishes to remain nameless has expressed an interest in our show," she said.

Narrowing his eyes in disapproval upon hearing Razor and Blade's intent to apparently sell themselves out, Ichigo put his hand over Rukia's to pull her away. "Let's go," he said firmly.

"Wait, nobody said no," Yoruichi said standing up to show off her curvy body. She put her hands on her hips, apparently ready to take on the hackers' challenge. "But you know that you are going to need more than just two media icons like us. You need an army."

Urahara jumped up on his feet, suddenly excited by his partner's ferocity. His hands immediately fell onto her hips. "That's it! An electronic army!" Urahara cheered on enthusiastically. "If I were us, I'd get on the internet and send out a major distress signal."

"Hackers of the world, unite!" Yoruichi added with a fire in her golden eyes.

Razor and Blade thrust their bodies towards each other and promptly began making out in front of their visitors. Rukia and Ichigo exchanged glances, both with bright red blushes heating their faces.

Urahara broke out of the embrace to look at them. "How are you going to take care of the cops?" he asked suddenly.

Ichigo smiled and then grabbed Rukia's hand to lead her back through the hallway to exit the building. They didn't have a lot of time to get out their distress signal.


	23. The Hackers Clash

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Three**

**The Hackers Clash**

Ichigo connected his laptop to the nearest public phone outside the rave hall. Rukia stood a bit away from him to look out for any approaching dangers. His fingers punched the keys as quickly as he could muster the commands. He navigated through the city's power grid, locating the traffic control system, then checked his watch and typed in the time for light override. Five minutes before their time of arrest seemed the best for him. Ichigo looked up to see Rukia texting away on her cell phone.

* * *

Shinji leaned his elbows against his knees, deep in thought while he played against an eighty year-old man at chess in the local park. With his head hidden under a baseball cap and his hoodie, he felt okay he wouldn't be noticed by the police. Ganju, on the other hand, ate this three hot dogs while he sat up on top of the back of the bench next to Shinji. He only wore his usual bandanna on his head, elevated in plain view above the rest of the park patrons.

Suddenly Ganju twitched while his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked it to find a text message from Rukia.

**HACK THE PLANET. Subway central downtown.**

"Burn is blowing me up. Let's go," he said with bits of hot dog flying out of his mouth.

Shinji nodded. He stared at the board while he stood on his feet. He reached out, moved his King to checkmate his opponent, and ran off after Ganju.

* * *

"Are you done?!" Rukia said, her feet itching to use Ichigo's skateboard through town. Since she had shorter legs, Ichigo chivalrously offered her his usual mode of transportation while he would just run to the downtown subway station.

Ichigo nodded, securing his laptop in his messenger bag. She smiled back at him before pushing off on the kickboard, the two hackers suddenly emerging from their desolate alley to see Karakura's streets congested with traffic. At each intersection they passed, there were at least four cars caught in an accident, smoke billowing from their car hoods, and when Ichigo looked up, he saw all sides of the traffic lights shining green.

One intersection in particular made him smile mischievously at the results. He saw Captain Tousen in a marked police car with a Cadillac t-boned into his cruiser. Tousen and Ichigo locked eyes for a moment, and Ichigo pointed his thumb and index finger at him in a mock gun. He pretended to "shoot" his gun at Tousen before running off after Rukia.

"Dammit!" Tousen cursed as he watched the head of bright orange hair run off into the distant traffic. He grabbed the radio in his cruiser while his assistant Wonderweiss sat in the passenger with a lost pout. "Suspect Kurosaki is in downtown Karakura area. Proceed with full force on foot or any methods not by automobile! And get somebody to fix the traffic lights NOW!"

Rukia picked up the skateboard and proceeded down the steps into the subway system on foot, Ichigo trailing right behind her. She rounded the corner to find Shinji and Ganju already there with their laptops connected to the line of public phones hanging on the wall.

"What took you guys so long?" Ganju asked innocently. He reached awkwardly behind him. "I even had time to pick up a surprise for you two."

Ganju produced a dark-eyed Hanatarou, who held one open Mr. Coffee in one hand and the rest of his six-pack in his other. He nodded at the new arrivals. "Hey guys. I've been hiding out in the supply room at Sereitei since Renji got caught," he said meekly. "Hope you guys haven't had a hard time hiding out from the cops. I think I gained five pounds."

Ichigo smiled and Rukia gave him a quick hug before taking her place in her own telephone booth. Ichigo set up his computer in the remaining empty phone cubicle, while his shorter partner barked out orders.

"Now listen up, use your best viruses to buy us time," Rukia said sternly. She pushed the power button, and her vanity log-on screen flashed flames that made up her Acid Burn logo before showing her regular desktop. Shinji took his place at his laptop, but Ganju danced in place for a bit to burn off his excess energy and adrenaline.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, scaring his friends who now glared at him for his loud outburst. He shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "I had to break a little tension...it had to be done."

"Ganju," Rukia said in a no-nonsense tone. The called looked at her with wide eyes. "Go fix the phones."

"Roger."

Rukia returned her attention to typing on her laptop. Without looking up again, she shouted out more commands. "Hanatarou, take his place."

"What? Me?" he asked with a hiccup. Hanatarou almost spilled a bit of his Mr. Coffee on his clothes when he heard what Rukia had told him. "But I-"

"Hanatarou, take his place," she repeated, this time peering up to meet his stupefied gaze. "We don't have time to fuck around, we need you. You can do this."

When she emphasized her words with a rare Kuchiki smile, Hanatarou nodded and put his precious cans down on the ground. He stood at Ganju's computer, familiarizing himself with the laptop. He took a deep breath and nodded at the group commander.

"Ready?" Rukia asked, looking behind her. Ichigo flashed a quick smile at her, his eyes blazing with determination. He was preparing himself for getting into his zone.

"Let's boot up!" she commanded.

Rukia led the charge into the Hueco Mundo network. She opened a link to get into the Gibson and sent it to her comrades. Suddenly, the empty subway terminal was filled with the sound of the hackers furiously typing on their laptop keyboards.

* * *

Across town, in the Hueco Mundo Corporation building, office workers moved about their daily business when the lights flickered off and then back on. Employees at their desks looked up or at each other in confusion, and when they tried getting back to their work stations, they found their computers and televisions taken over by various viruses. Some computers had a big yellow happy face bouncing around on their monitors, spewing the crude message, "Sit on my interface". Other workers had an animation of a pink brain disintegrating into a brown pile of poop, which its rising odor formed the words "Shit for brains". No matter what keys the employees pushed, the computers would not respond, unless they pulled out the power cord.

Downstairs in the basement, a dozen security employees manned the various workstations at the Gibson computer. The neon lights in the room flickered a bit, alerting them of the attack on their network, springing them into action. Gin ran through the buzzing room to his superior, who was leaning back casually in his swivel chair. "What is it? What's wrong?" Gin asked breathlessly.

Aizen watched the monitor in front of him fill with all of the attacks meant to overload the Gibson. It looked like childsplay to him. "Nothing, this is just a minor glitch."

"Aizen-san, I can't help but notice that 'minor glitches' with you seem to turn into major catastrophes," Gin replied with a frown.

**I WANT A COOKIE. GIVE ME A COOKIE NOW!**

Gin rushed to Aizen's side and took a seat at the computer. He tried to navigate through the Gibson, but it was not responding to what he typed. "There's a new virus in the database," he said nonchalantly. "It's replicating, eating up memory. What do I do?"

"Type 'cookie' you idiot," snapped Aizen. Without even waiting for Gin to help him, he typed the remedy for the virus and moved on to work on the first ones that infected the network. He didn't get far when Gin interrupted his current mission.

"We have a Zero Bug attacking all the login and overlay files."

Aizen rolled his eyes. There were at least a dozen people working in the office, but none of them were any help to the lead security officer. He focused on his own defense. "Run an anti-virus, and get me a systems display!" he barked.

Gin typed furiously on his keyboard. Another subordinate ran up to him, motioning him to look at the radar system that monitored the tanks at sea. On that screen, the da Vinci head began to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" while it showed the levels of water filling up the ship tanks. The levels were rising quickly, and Gin reached over to bring it to Aizen's attention. The head hacker nodded.

Aizen reached over to dial Captain Tousen's personal cell phone. The officer answered, his voice sounding breathless and flustered. "The kids are at Grand Central Station, lower level. Don't screw up."

* * *

Unable to clear the traffic in the numerous intersections of downtown Karakura, Tousen led a group of his men running down the sidewalks in the direction that they last saw Kurosaki Ichigo travel down. Although he was handling the running better than some of his men, Tousen had no idea where exactly to go since his target had the ability to infiltrate the Gibson network anywhere there was a running telephone line or wireless network. The deadline to arrest them was dwindling, and Tousen was quite relieved when he got the phone call from Aizen. Waving to his followers, he lead them to the nearest subway station.

Rukia's fingers began to ache and her average of typing mistakes began to rise with her fatigue. She hit the subway wall when another one of her viruses got shot down quicker than she anticipated. "It's the Gibson, it's finding us too fast!" she hissed over her shoulder.

Ichigo wrinkled his brow. "I know, but there's too many garbage files, I need more time."

Mysteriously, the phone in Ichigo's booth began to ring. He looked at it, not comprehending what the sound meant at first, but when it rang again, Ichigo picked up the receiver while his eyes stayed on his computer screen. "Hello?" he said hesitantly.

"Game's over," replied the voice. It was Aizen's chilly drawl. "Last chance to get out of this without a prison sentence. You're not good enough to beat me, you little shit."

Ichigo frowned, although he never took his eyes off of the numerous files sprawled out in front of him. He resolved to prevail over the evil hacker. "Well maybe I'm not...but together we are, you asshole."

Back in Hueco Mundo, manning the Gibson super computer, Aizen smiled on his end of the line. Youth could never topple experience and age. "Give it up kid, just give it up," he chuckled before hanging up.

* * *

**the final battle begins! only 5 more chapters left...thanks for reading!**


	24. Busted, again

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. yay! resolution is near...as in Friday!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**Busted, again**

Rukia fired another virus inside the Gibson. She watched it crash the system longer than her previously fired viruses, but then Aizen sent over the correct override to foil her attempt. She cursed under her breath when her cell phone rang.

"Are we fashionably late?" purred the voice of Razor. "The troops are all ready."

"Good!" Rukia sighed. She looked back at Ichigo and gave him a successful wink. "Let loose."

Yoruichi hung up and gave a thumbs-up sign to Urahara. He sent out a follow-up message to the hackers he had contacted from all over the world, giving them the green light to attack the Hueco Mundo Gibson. Urahara then sent his own bundle of viruses at the target.

Gin's eyes scanned the screen that now flashed with a barrage of unknown viruses in all different languages. Unbeknownst to him, and all of the security officers at Hueco Mundo, their precious Gibson was now being attacked from the farthest islands of Japan, hackers from Russia, Italy, Australia, Thailand, England, the United States, and numerous other countries.

Ichigo felt a boost in his processing capabilities, and when he looked at the Gibson network to see the influx of unfamiliar hacker viruses, he knew that they weren't fighting alone. He went back to searching for Hanatarou's garbage file.

* * *

"Aizen-san," Gin asked quietly. He tried pushing his keyboard in vein; nothing registered with the computer. "What is going on now?"

The glasses-clad man narrowed his eyes at the screen. There were three times as many viruses ravaging the Gibson network now, and he didn't have time to deal with needless questions. He took his eyes off the screen to glare at Gin to his right. "In short...a shit storm."

* * *

With the boost of power and other hackers dropping viruses, Ichigo worked faster to locate the hot garbage file. He had searched a good amount of the Gibson already, and from eliminating certain folders with the basic code Hanatarou downloaded, Ichigo had one last area to search. Suddenly, upon clicking on the first garbage file, he recognized the code that unfurled across his screen.

"I found it! I found it!" he cheered.

* * *

Although Aizen lead the charge against the invading viruses plaguing the Gibson, he really took a stance at protecting the one thing he knew the hackers were going after. It was like a technological game of capture the flag. Suddenly, the flashing of a familiar garbage file caught Aizen's eye. They had found his proverbial flag. Aizen worked fast to stop it. He located the foreign user and directed his attention to expelling him.

"This is the end, my friend," he muttered under his breath. Aizen typed a quick command. "Thank you for calling!"

* * *

Ichigo managed to start his download of the garbage file. He completely abandoned firing viruses and his defenses in order to retrieve the file code faster. Suddenly, his screen froze before his network connection shut down.

"Shit! He got me!" Ichigo cursed. He grabbed at his hair in frustration.

Rukia eyed him from her post at her laptop, still typing, but Shinji took a break from hacking to nod towards Hanatarou. He had been booted out of the Gibson more times than his ego could take at the moment. He needed to refuel with some caffeine. "It's okay, Hana is getting stupid busy over here!" he called before returning to overload the Gibson with his best pornographic spyware, mostly comprised of photoshopped pictures of Ganju's sister.

Ichigo abandoned his phone booth and ran up next to Hanatarou. Although the younger hacker spent more time shooting off viruses rather than searching the garbage files, Ichigo was glad to see he was close to where he discovered the exact location. He put a firm hand on Hanatarou's shoulder.

"Hanatarou, I need you to drop your viruses and go after the worm. You are close, I know you can do this," he said. Hanatarou nodded, and while he spat out the location address, Ichigo pushed a jump drive in the computer's USB port. "It's location is root slash period workspace slash period garbage period."

Rukia dialed Yoruichi's phone number on her cell. "Kill the Gibson," she said when she got an answer. Rukia went back to sending her best viruses to overload the worm. They needed to kill it before the oil tankers capsized in the ocean, but they needed to make sure they had a copy of the full file.

* * *

**WE GOTCHA!**

Aizen scowled while he typed, and Gin had stopped to even bother try anything at the helm of a keyboard. He watched the screen, almost hypnotized by the battle of flashing lights and graphics. Another security officer ran up to Gin with a smile on her face. "Ichimaru-san! It looks like the tankers have stopped capsizing! The ships will be okay!" she exclaimed with a smile.

Gin nodded silently while he turned his attention to Aizen's screen. He continued to type with a fervor that masked the fact that their cover for the escaping worm had been foiled. Suddenly, the Gibson screen went blank, except for a single message across the monitor.

**MESS WITH THE BEST, DIE LIKE THE REST.**

After the message disappeared in the whiteness of the screen, the security office went back to normal, as if a massive battle never occurred in the last twenty minutes.

* * *

The hackers exited their respective phone booths to cheer and congratulate each other. Shinji shook Ichigo's hand, glad he got to work with the famous Zangetsu, and Rukia planted butterfly kisses all over Hanatarou's cheeks while he blushed furiously. He struggled to get down gulps of Mr. Coffee to calm his nerves from the hack. She turned around to lock eyes with Ichigo. She took a step towards him, a smile playing at her mouth but not quite surfacing.

"Ichigo, I-"

"FREEZE!"

A troop of police officers surrounded the group, led by Captain Tousen himself. His forehead and suit was drenched in sweat, clearly visible past the gun he pointed at them. While the group stared at the officers with wide eyes, Hanatarou was the only one who bothers to put his hands up. He was used to this kind of treatment.

Each of the hackers were handcuffed and lead to seperate police cars. They moved Ichigo last, and while they led him to his personal cruiser, he reached into his back pocket, clutching the portable jump drive with his fingers. As he passed a trashcan, Ichigo tossed the drive into the opening.


	25. Interrogation

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. post 1 of 2 for today.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Five**

**Interrogation**

Ganju moved his way through the newly gathered crowd at the subway station. "What's going on?" he thought upon hearing the commotion, a stark contrast to when he worked alone at the other end of the terminal. Ganju had to post "Do Not Use" signs along the line of pay phones, and rewire the frequencies so the hackers could use these lines over at where they worked.

The job worked up a bit of an appetite, and he lazily chewed on his hotdog, wondering what the fuss was about. Suddenly, he saw the large influx of police cruisers. Ganju made his way to the edge of the crowd so he could get a better view of the action, when he saw Captain Tousen pass by, followed by a handcuffed Ichigo. Ganju ducked behind an old woman much too short for him to hide behind.

He locked eyes with Ichigo while avoiding detection from any other officers. Ganju looked for any signs or hints of what he should do next.

"They're trashing our rights, man!" Ichigo yelled, fighting against his escorting officer. He tried to turn around and face his friend. "They're trashing the flow of data. They're trashing, Trashing, TRASHING! Hack the planet! HACK THE PLANET!"

Captain Tousen whipped around and grabbed Ichigo by his shirt front. He glared at the young man who gave him hell for the last few weeks. "Shut up and get in the car!" he growled.

Ganju nodded and watched as the last of his hacking friends got shoved into a police car, which promptly drove away. He raised his fist in the air. "Hack the Planet!" he cheered before running back into the subway station towards the phones where they set up shop.

When he neared the line of phones, Ganju saw a few officers guarding the area while others gathered the abandoned laptops and electronic equipment. He stopped in his run and noticed the first trashcan he came across. Shoving the last of the hot dog into his mouth and throwing the wrapper away, Ganju pretended that he dropped something important and peered into the smelly receptacle. Something silver shined up at him.

"Oh shit," he muttered when he reached in and touched something warm and slimey. "They owe me big for this."

* * *

Aizen sat silently in his swivel chair while the employees around him cheered and congratulated each other. Although he defended his territory successfully, Aizen only lamented that he couldn't completely disable Kurosaki's consorts. Silently, he seethed at the thought of the other rogue hackers who appeared in the Gibson to help too.

A phone call brought him out of his funk. "Hello?"

It was Captain Tousen on the line. "We caught them. You won't be having any more trouble from them."

A smile spread across Aizen's face. At least he would still emerge the victorious, and the children would take the fall. He looked over at Gin, who waited for his instructions. "Get your things, Gin. It's time we got out of here."

* * *

The Karakura police gave the incoming hackers various kinds of looks when they were paraded through the station. Some sneered at them, glad they could finally put away their technological fears and trust their computers again. Others were amazed at the sheer brilliance and chaos that came from the actions of such young adults. Hanatarou knew the drill, and his feet automatically took him to the familiar interrogation room. This time, to his surprise, Shinji joined him in the room.

He gave Hanatarou an approving nod. "You really proved yourself today, young soul."

The younger hacker smiled meekly. "Thanks. I hope we end up as cell mates, Lord Vizard."

Shinji groaned and slouched in the stiff office chair. "Well you still owe Renji a pack of fries," he muttered.

In the next room, the officers paired Rukia and Ichigo together on one side of a large conference table. Across from them, Captain Tousen badgered them with a series of questions.

"It was me alright? I did it," Ichigo said firmly. He put his cuffed hands on the table to emphasize his point. "Rukia knows shit about computers. She's just...my girlfriend who got caught up in all of this craziness."

"I suggest you modify your attitude," Tousen replied, not bothering to listen to the boy's plea. "Think about your story again because you are floating...and I'm about to flush your ass."

A beep at the table's intercom interrupted his carefully planned insult. A woman's voice followed it. "I have a Kurosaki Masaki here to see you, sir. It's the boy's mother."

Tousen pushed a button to turn the intercom off. He narrowed his eyes as if to threaten Ichigo to try something funny while he left the room. Tousen ran his hands along the front of his suit, which had dried off considerable from his previously sweaty state, and left the couple silent in their seats.

When the door shut behind the police captain, Rukia turned her head to face the person sitting next to her. Ichigo didn't look at her, but seemed to be preoccupied with his own thoughts. As much as she tried, Rukia never figured out how to read him or prepare herself for wahtever surprises Ichigo always had in store for her. "Are you crazy?" she asked him, Rukia's voice coming out barely above a whisper. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to help you," Ichigo replied. He stared at the intercom, trying to think of how his latest troubles would affect his mother. His heart broke when he remembered the last time he saw her, his mother exhausted and passed out on their living room couch.

"Ichigo."

"What?" he said, somewhat regretting that his response came out quite harsh. Ichigo turned to Rukia in an effort to apologize her.

The girl, however, didn't look angry at all. A warmth came from her gaze and somewhat strengthened him. "Thank you for your help."

Ichigo nodded and went back to staring at the intercom. He reached out a hand and turned on the machine. Tousen's voice filled their interrogation room.

"Your son is in big trouble. He has violated his probation, and he has engaged in criminal activity."

"My son happens to be a genius," Masaki replied. Although her voice floated with an unmistakable kindness, she conveyed a stern underlaying message that she was standing by her only son. "Ichigo understands something happened today that you won't comprehend if you live to be a hundred, and he would never use what he knows to harm a living soul!"

A third voice entered their conversation. "The news crew you requested is here, Captain Tousen."

"Good, because I have a few things to tell them," Masaki said threateningly.

Tousen's voice returned once more. "Your son is facing thirty felony counts in an ongoing investigation. You face possible arrest if you try to stop us."

"Taichou, I don't care if I face certain death. You are not taking my son."

A fury of voices muddled the intercom speaker, and Ichigo reached out to turn it off. He couldn't help the smile playing at his lips. He knew he inherited his stubbornness from somewhere. Ichigo felt something touch his arm, and he looked over to see Rukia smiling as well. It was like Ichigo had opened a present on Christmas morning, and he basked in the softness and beauty that took over Rukia's face. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

"She's great," Rukia said quietly.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. I know."


	26. Hack the Planet

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. post 2 of 2 for today. thanks for the reviews!!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Six**

**Hack the Planet**

News reporter Matsumoto hurried through the police station in chase of getting the scoop on the biggest story of the year. Unconfirmed reports flew around about a technological terrorist threat on one of the largest economic tycoons in Japan, and that it was brought on by a couple of local high schoolers, so the reporter decided to get answers directly from her best source. She caught Tousen's attention.

"Captain Tousen, is it true that teenagers attacked Hueco Mundo's computer network? Is this the last we've seen of this type of high-tech espionage?" she called out to him.

Tousen leaned down to his assistant Wonderweiss. "Pull that television closer to here right now. I want to see how I look in this news report," he whispered. The smaller blonde nodded and did as he was told.

"Now we don't have any reason to believe that there are other hackers out there or anticipate any further attacks since we arrested our perpetrators while they were in the act of their evil doing. We are confident that we shall get the extent of their plans directly from our detainees," he said with a firm voice. Tousen straightened himself out when he caught his own image on the television Wonderwiess had pushed near the film crew.

Matsumoto looked down at her notepad for more questions. "Captain, are you at liberty to disclose the arrested suspects?"

Tousen didn't answer her question right away because he was too busy watching the static that took over the tv set. The grey fuzz cleared away to display a low quality feed of a rather plump looking young man with shaved slits in his eyebrows. He sat down in a chair, constantly fidgeting while he waited for some sort of off-camera cue to start speaking. The worried exclamations of the news crew caused a sudden alarm for Tousen.

"That kid cut him off! I can't get our camera feed back on!"

"Hello boys and girls," the kid on the television said. He waved to the camera. "It is I, Bonne the Boar Wrangler, making my first coast to coast, world-wide and very global television appearance. Yes, that's correct, I am here to tell you about this heinous scheme hatched from within the Hueco Mundo Mineral Corporation.

But for what, you ask? World domination? Nay, it is for something far more tacky. A virus called da Vinci, that when launched, would cause Hueco Mundo tankers to capsize in the Pacific Ocean, was to be blamed in innocent hackers. But this virus was really the smokescreen for something bigger, and what could be so vitally important to protect that someone would create such a nasty, antisocial, very uncool virus program?"

Yoruichi and Urahara adjusted cable knobs to manage the broadcast of Ganju's television debut. With each new light that illuminated, more and more televisions broadcasted their humble show. Razor and Blade knew they were live all over the world, online, and on public and private televisions alike while Ganju continued to explain Aizen's plot.

"Could it be that this virus was to cover the tracks for this worm program? A worm that was to steal 250 million bucks from Hueco Mundo Corporation and give it to Ichimaru Gin, second in command for Computer Security, and to his partner...Aizen Souske, Head Security Officer?"

A combination of numbers scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

"What's this? Is this the unnamed account in the Bahamas where the money was to be stashed? I think so!"

Ganju let out a chuckle and looked around his surroundings, somewhat mesmerized. Viewers couldn't exactly tell if he was acting or for real. "Yo people...I kind of feel like God!"

Tousen stood stiff in his shoes as he slowly realized that Aizen played him for a fool. He clutched his hands into fists, unsure whether it was his fault that he was humiliated by another hacker who managed to avoid arrest. A commotion erupted from the interrogation rooms, and the arrested hackers cheered while they let themselves out of captivity. No one stopped them.

Ichigo smiled broadly as he found his mother and scooped her up in a big embrace. Smiling happily, Masaki wrapped her arms around her son and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

* * *

One moment, Ichimaru Gin was packing for sunny weather in the Bahamas, and the next thing he knew, his hands were held behind him by a dozen officers pinning him down on top of his suitcase. The officers shoved him in a police cruiser, and instead of going to the police station, Gin was sent directly to the town prison for criminal processing. He struggled against his escorting officers, who refused to hear his pleas.

"I don't even know how to work a VCR, let alone a computer! Look, I'll make a deal...Aizen Souske! I promise you, I know where his mother lives. I want a lawyer, NOW!" he bellowed, his voice echoing against the concrete walls.


	27. Crash and Burn, the final score

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Crash and Burn, the final score**

Plane take-offs always bothered the elderly ears of Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni. A weathered man, he ran his fingers through his long white beard, somewhat saddened that hair did not grow as generously on the top of his head as it did on his chin. He looked out of his window, his smile hidden under the long mass of braided white hair. Yamamoto was on his way to the tropical Bahamas, a fitting place for an old man to retire.

"Here you are, Yamamoto-san," said the flight attendant as she walked up with a cold water bottle. "The flight time to the Bahamas should be fourteen hours today. Can I get you anything else?"

"Just a pillow please," he replied quietly.

Raising his drink to his lips, Aizen Souske thought about a new disguise he would use once he got to the tropical islands. Staying as an elderly man proved to be a problem already, as he tried to drink without wetting his faux-beard too terribly. He didn't want to imagine sweating under all of the prosthetics he now wore also. He felt something rustle behind his head, and he reached up to adjust the pillow being lowered towards his neck. "Thank you," he said.

When he did, Aizen heard a loud click, and something cold encircled his wrist.

"You're welcome," came the familiar voice of Tousen Kaname, who held the other end of the handcuffs.

"What's going on?!" Aizen bellowed, feigning innocence and bewilderment. "Stewardess! I swear, I will never fly this airline again!"

* * *

The stars twinkled brightly above Karakura Town as nighttime blanketed the expansive city. A well-dressed couple walked side by side on an empty sidewalk through the downtown area. Kuchiki Rukia busied herself with eating a chocolate chip ice cream cone while Kurosaki Ichigo walked next to her, amazed by her gigantic appetite since dinner and wondered where she kept the extra room for dessert. He wore a black long-sleeved button down shirt which blew open in a gust of wind, revealing a dark grey shirt underneath, and he kept his hands tucked away in his jean pockets. Although they weren't saying much during their walk, there was still a sort of comfort between them, and definitely an electricity whenever they would accidentally brush against each other.

"You look good in a dress," Ichigo said casually, eyeing the smaller girl next to him.

Rukia looked up at Ichigo, who wasn't sure whether her extra long lick on her ice cream and tongue passing over her pink lips was part of her devious plan to drive him crazy. When she caught his attention by meeting his gaze, she rolled her eyes away, to add a bit of insult. "_You _would have looked better," she retorted coolly.

Suddenly Ichigo stopped and turned to face her along the sidewalk. Rukia did the same, not wanting to back down from him in any way. In the moonlight, Ichigo couldn't help but drink in her milky legs and creamy skin showing from under her tiny dress. Her attire matched his in color, the black horizontal neckline stretching straight across Rukia's chest and arms with lowered straps, making a striking contrast of the dark fabric against her light skin. The top fitted her tightly above the hips, where the skirt flowed away from her body, not quite reaching her knees but not quite short enough to Ichigo to get a good look at her bottom. Not that Ichigo was looking, or tried to look at any point during their date.

Rukia's violet eyes struck Ichigo deep in his soul. He could look at her for the rest of the night and be content, no matter how corny that idea sounded to him.

He grinned coyly at her. "Wanna go for a swim?"

* * *

The sidewalk turned into a swimming pool, and Rukia floated lazily on her back to admire the stars shining up above. She paddled with her arms occasionally, and she hit Ichigo on accident a few times while he floated next to her. Rukia didn't want to ask, in case Ichigo would explain condescendingly towards her, how he got access to a penthouse apartment and rooftop pool. When he invited her to swim, however, she understood it was his smart-ass way of bringing their friendship full-circle.

"I can't believe they decided you won," Rukia said aloud, breaking the silence.

"They didn't. The guys felt it was the only way I'd get a date," replied Ichigo. He pretended like it pained him to say his words. "Anyway...you're pretty good. You're elite."

Rukia scoffed at him. "Yeah? You know, if you would have said so in the beginning, you would have saved yourself a whole lot of trouble." She remembered that Ichigo was the winner of their bet, and she was a honorable woman who kept her word. Rukia smiled mischieviously at her date.

Ichigo grinned back at her, even as Rukia swam up to him, tired of treading water, and wrapped her arms around his neck to use him as a resting post. Since Ichigo was at least a foot taller than her, Rukia was having more trouble staying afloat in the deep end of the pool, while her date just stood around, flat-footed, in the water. She felt the bottom of her dress floating dangerouly higher than any wearer would intend for it to go, but Ichigo's eyes didn't wander. Instead, he uncurled her arms from around his neck and swam away, much to Rukia's annoyance.

It seemed his attention went elsewhere, and Rukia followed him to the edge of the pool. She looked out towards the skyline and burst out laughing. On three skyscrapers off in the distance, a chosen pattern of lights flickered on and off to spell out its message across using the 60 stories of each building to do so. Rukia, and anyone else who happened to look up at the buildings, could read it easily.

**CRASH and BURN.**

A wide smile gladly took over Rukia's face. She struggled to swim to where Ichigo rested on the pool edge and not get water in her mouth while she laughed. Finally docking herself on the poolside, Rukia fully admired Ichigo's handiwork, letting herself laugh to her heart's content. It was the sweetest hack she'd ever experienced.

"Beat that!" Ichigo chucked jokingly.

Rukia didn't bother to shoot him an angry glare, since that was the furthest emotion she felt at the moment. She heard the familiar sound of a body moving through water, and Rukia felt something solid press up against her, all along the length of her back. Cautiously, Ichigo moved himself behind Rukia, wanting to be close to her and embrace her, but still hesitant to how she might react. Luckily, she settled herself firmly against his chest, and Ichigo steadied himself by encasing her with one arm holding onto the pool deck on either side of her, moving close enough to Rukia that he could smell her flowery perfume that had been driving him crazy all night.

Ichigo lowered his mouth daringly close to her ear. "You know...I've been having these really weird..."

Instantly, Rukia spun around when she felt his hot breath on her chilled and wet body. Her breath hitched in her throat when she was met so close with Ichigo's golden eyes. They were fixated, now that she had turned to face him, on her mouth. "Dreams?" she finished, subconsciously licking her lips.

Ichigo nodded numbly, and Rukia clutched at his neck, pulling him in for a passionate kiss. Behind them, Ichigo's message shone brightly in the night, announcing to the world his affection for the girl in his arms.

* * *

**A/N:** yay! i'm happy i got to post this project. i'm thinking of adding another chapter but i'm working on 3 projects at the same time (not a good idea). if you haven't seen the movie Hackers, i suggest you do so because it's a really iconic movie. thank you to everyone who took the time to read and add the story to their alerts. it's finally done...so tell your friends to read it haha!

especially HUGE thank you's go to XcaliberSA, Ichimau-taicho, MrsKurosaki,and NC2001 for their continuous support.


	28. An Un Righteous Hack, lemon

**Disclaimer: i do not own Bleach or Hackers. surprise! just one last chapter...my first attempt at lemon (wow)...just to bring one laaast bit of closure. XcaliberSA, this is for you.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

_"How long have I been waiting to kiss him?"_ Rukia wonders as her lips mesh against Ichigo's. They were still in the deep end of the pool, but with Ichigo's height, his arms wrapped around her waist, and her back pressed firmly against the pool wall, Rukia had no fears of the water over taking her. Passion, however, was another story, and with her legs possessing Ichigo's middle, she can feel the heat in her lower body begin to burn. Suddenly, as if a switch turned on, Rukia was immediately ready to take their relationship all the way.

But she knew she wanted to make these feelings last.

Ichigo's kiss definitely wasn't forceful or demanding, like in her very explicit dream, but it wasn't as timid or inept as Rukia intially imagined. Instead, she reveled in the relief of letting her guards down, her true self shine through, and how easy it was to melt into Ichigo's embrace. With each kiss, Rukia added more pressure than the last, and Ichigo pressed his body closer against hers. She tilted her head to the side, and Ichigo stole more of her breath. A thick strand of hair fall into the mix of kissing and lips and moans, and without missing a beat, Ichigo forcefully brushed it away, as if angry the raven tendril dared to get inbetween their long-awaited joining. Exact how far Ichigo had ever been with a girl, Rukia couldn't tell, but she knew he enjoyed the experience now.

He kissed her with more confidence, tilting her body back in the water so he could dominate their embrace, but Rukia wouldn't have it for long. Although she was the loser of their bet, Rukia realized that with this relationship, the constant battle to be on top would be a reoccurring theme. As Ichigo's fingers roamed through her matted, wet hair, supporting the side of her head at the same time, Rukia counterattacked his surge of confidence by drawing in his bottom lip and sucking it into her mouth. She let go quickly, but attacked again by nibbling on the same lip and immediately running her tongue along the very same area to soothe it. An animalistic noise rumbled from deep in the back of Ichigo's throat, enthralling the girl with his uninhibited reaction. She smirked into his lips before running her tongue painfully slow along his upper lip this time.

Ichigo found new excitement now that tongues were involved. Rukia's mouth was so small, but stirring his very core with new sensations as she explored him with her hands trailing along his body, finding such undiscovered, tender areas that ached to be touched. Their tongues danced against each other, both trying to claim dominance over the other, but also enjoying the loss when one inevitable succumbed to the other. Ichigo dared to draw Rukia's tongue into his own mouth, scraping his teeth against the very tip, and he nearly lost himself when he felt the vibrations of Rukia's own sensual moan. Suddenly, he wanted to explore the rest of her body with only his mouth, needing to claim her now as his territory and taste the skin that teased him under the moonlight.

The battle of kisses raged on, and Rukia trailed her assault down Ichigo's strong jawline, taking her time to test its firmness with tiny nibbles up towards his earlobe. She worked her magic on the sensitive skin, drawing it between her teeth and massaging it with her soft tongue. Rukia didn't realize it, but with each enthusiastic wonder she worked while kissing him, her hips gyrated against his while her legs were still wrapped around him, and Ichigo submerged his hands to hold them firmly into place. He wasn't sure how far Rukia wanted to go, but he wanted to be able to stop before the tightening in his pants became too unbearable.

When he stopped her, Rukia pulled away to smile at him from across what little distance separated their bodies. The twinkle in the violet pools assured Ichigo that she was neither offended or stopping anytime soon. His gaze lowered to her creamy neck and shoulders, and Ichigo took his turn at tasting the milky skin. Rukia gladly extended her face up towards the sparkling night sky, allowing him better access, and her hands clutched at fistfuls of orange fluff while his tongue slithered down her throat and to her collar bones. The sensation rocked her down to her toes, and she decided Ichigo easily covered up the notion that he was most likely an inexperienced virgin by the way he was clawing at her now.

He left airy kisses along her shoulders while Rukia struggled to keep her eyes open in the bliss. Her voice came out ragged and hoarse. With the way they were going, she needed an answer and quick before they would regret going over certain boundaries. Roughly, reluctantly, she pulled away from him so she could look him in the eyes. "Ichigo, what was in your dream?" Rukia asked, but seeing the raw desire in his amber irises, she turned away from him once she ended her question, once more facing his message flashing on the three buildings.

Ichigo snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her back firmly against his chest. It felt cold without her body meshed with his. Lowering his mouth, he slipped his tongue alongside the length of her ear and suckled on the tender skin that encompassed her throat. Rukia's head bucked back against his shoulder, revealing the most sensitive front of her throat, and Ichigo dragged his mouth along there, wanting to smother her with his essence. The intoxication of Rukia's taste drove the primal instincts of his ancestors, and Ichigo knew he wasn't going to stop. He was going to make his dream a reality.

Rukia arched her back, grinding her back against Ichigo, thrusting her arms up in the air to grip his head, pushing him closer into her. She could feel the telltale hardness of his arousal against the softness of her bum, and Rukia welcomed the feeling. Whatever preconceptions she had about his shyness or ineptitude melted with the rest of her senses into a pile of mush, and she struggled to keep her wits about her. "Ichigo, what-"

"Me and you," he said huskily. This was no time for words. "But you had no clothes on."

That revelation assured her that they were about to truly live up to their monikers. What once started as attraction, grew to playful rivalry, and now about to set on fire despite their bodies seeking each other in the pool water. If they were going to crash and burn, at least they were doing it together.

Rukia shuddered when she felt the vibrations of her zipper being lowered and the influx of water against her bare back. Floating in the water made it easy for her to shrug off her clothing, throwing it up on the pool deck. Ichigo gulped as she turned round slowly, suddenly realizing he had been holding his breath while he undressed her and even worse, he had no idea what the hell he was doing. Rukia sensed the hesitation in him and smiled. She leaned forward, taking his mouth tenderly.

"Touch me," she whispered against his kiss.

One hand gripped her thigh, pressing Rukia's much needed weight against his stiff lap, while Ichigo reached up with his other to brush one hand along her shoulder line, slowly clearing the black hair from her white skin. With her encouraging smile, he dared to lower his hand, cupping a firm breast in his palm, rolling the fleshy mound much to his enjoyment. Peeling away the fabric of her bra, Ichigo lowered his mouth to claim the pert bud in his mouth. Rukia moaned audibly when his tongue flicked across her nipple, her hips bucking against his. He sucked on one, grazing his teeth against the bundle of nerves while his hand gripped the other breast helplessly. Her breathy emissions of his name fueled his explorations, caressing the taught skin over her abdomen, trailing kisses in the valley of her chest, and making Rukia grab at his body at the same time.

Ichigo struggled to escape from his shirt and minimize the distance between them. Rukia clumsily crushed her mouth over his, but Ichigo lifted her body higher to continue assaulting her body. She watched Ichigo as his tongue swept over her breasts again, not staying long enough to suckle on the ticklish sports on her underbelly. He gazed up at her lazily, his eyes looking menacing like a tiger devouring its prey, and Rukia thrust her head back, unable to bear the intensity and at the same time, lose herself in the sensations his mouth worked throughout her body.

The heat between her legs overwhelmed her, and Rukia wanted to take charge. Pushing up on her arms behind her, Rukia raised herself up on the pool deck, instantly losing the warmth of the water and feeling her nipples painfully tighten in the cool air. Ichigo could only watch her as she slipped her lacy panties down her legs until she flicked them at his face with her foot. He kept his eyes on Rukia's, once more holding his breath, unsure if he could take in her fully exposed body.

"Is this what was in your dream?" Rukia asked sensually, causing Ichigo to finally focus himself and drink in the image of her pleasuring herself.

Rukia bit her lower lip, glad to finally touch herself where she needed attention. Keeping one leg in the water and her other leg perpendicular on the pool edge, Rukia exposed her most intimate regions to the shy boy before her, rubbing her fingers along the outside of her precious folds. Her clit ached to be touched, so Rukia sent a fingertip in circular motions to show Ichigo exactly how she wanted him to touch her. Ichigo gaped at the erotic display and instinctively touched himself in the water, his pants suddenly too tight for his own comfort. For only seeing naked women and sex through his computer to being thrust in this encounter with an untamable vixen, Ichigo at least felt more excited to learn than discouraged for his ineptitude. His arousal grew as he watched Rukia spread her lips apart and slip that tantalizing finger inside of herself.

Blushing a bit, Rukia slowly teased herself to ease into the fact that she had never felt so vulnerable while she exposed herself for the first time in a private show for a man. Kaien knew how to work her when they had sex, but with Ichigo, she felt like a virgin, about to _make love _for the first time. She wanted him to enjoy his first time, but Rukia felt like she was about to experience something new as well. The wetness around her finger increased as she slipped it in and out, and she added another finger to meet the demands of her arousal. Her pace continued to grow, and Rukia's breathing shallowed while her explorations went deeper. She needed Ichigo to take it further.

Pulling her fingers out, Rukia gazed at him with dark eyes while she drew her fingers into her mouth, tasting the warm sweetness with her tongue. The gaping in his mouth was unmistakable, and she motioned for him to try it for himself. Ichigo silently moved through the water, immediately putting his mouth on the exposed skin of her thighs. The act was so deliberate and so close to where Rukia needed it most, but Ichigo teased her with his own hesitation. She tried to encourage him to go directly to the yearning at her core by placing her hands firmly in his hair, but Ichigo turned to the side, taking in the same fingers Rukia pleasured herself with in his mouth and suckled on them hard. An excited moan erupted, filled with excitement, but Ichigo gave the two digits his full attention, taking in the length, teasing it with his soft tongue, and finally nibbling at the tips.

He didn't, however, tease her for long, as his own hands were curious to please her as she had previously done. Ichigo placed his thumb on the tiny nerve-filled bud and rubbed it with pressurized circles. Rukia shifted her hips to open herself to him, and Ichigo finally lowered himself to run his tongue along the fleshy curtains at her opening. Her whole body shook with anticipation. Ichigo repeated the motion again, this time moving in the opposite direction and then changing once more. Rukia's scent filled his nose, enticing his mouth to taste more of the moist sweetness. He took in her folds in his opened mouth, pulling and amazed at their softness, and Ichigo could taste her wetness, increasing his appetite. Ichigo pushed a finger inside of her, causing Rukia to cry out in surprise, but she settled around his digit, a pleasant warmth surrounding him with her tight walls. Ichigo could move easily in her, making her grind onto his finger more, making her say his name. Encouraged, Ichigo spread her lips open, finding the clit and he licked the bud like he had done on her nipples. The reaction varied greatly, and Rukia panted his name, begging him to not stop the movement with his finger.

"Just keep moving," Rukia hissed.

Ichigo took her clit in his mouth, sucking on it, flicking it, making Rukia more noisy, while his finger slid long and slow in her. Her hips moved with his touch, trying to incite more purposeful movements from Ichigo, but she gasped when Ichigo thrust another finger in her. He froze when he heard the shrill noise. Rukia smiled down at him and nodded, his sudden enthusiasm surprising even her. She reached down to push the top of his head back in between her legs, and Ichigo added the assault of his mouth on her opening. His tongue dipped into where his fingers pumped against her, and he finally tasted the sweet saltiness of Kuchiki Rukia. Her moans conveyed her approval, and he inserted his tongue, brushing against the hood of her loins, concerned only with her enjoyment and memorizing what made her respond the most.

She felt close to her brink, and Rukia pushed him away from her body, although most regretfully. She grabbed his hand, telling him to get out of the pool, and Ichigo had been so wrapped up in eating her alive that he had to work to command his body to move. Rukia lay back, the rough deck scratching at her naked body, but she welcomed Ichigo's weight as he spread himself on top of her, feverishly kissing her mouth. She could taste herself on his tongue, but Rukia wrestled him enough so she pressed her weight upon him. Rukia could admire the fit and firmness of Ichigo's body, kissing along each groove his abs offered her, licking the contoured lines with the tip of her tongue. He struggled to watch her work her magic on his body but easily succumbed to the heavy awareness of his own arousal. Rukia, however, knew exactly what she was doing.

Unbuttoning his pants, Ichigo felt relief with nothing straining himself in, but was sure a hot flush radiated e_verywhere_. He had never been so naked in front of anyone before, let alone outside in the open. Feeling him tense up, Rukia heated his bare body with her own, pressing her soft tummy over his erection while kissing him on the lips to give him reassurance. Ichigo gulped, but watched her as she lowered herself over his lap. He braced himself for the initial feeling of light kisses fluttering on the sensitive skin and her fingers lazily tracing tantalizing lines along the shaft. He wasn't ready for what happened next.

Rukia swallowed him whole.

Ichigo's hips bucked out of reflex, but Rukia kept her mouth over him firmly, using her forearms to pin his legs down. She moaned when she felt his tip brush against the depths of her throat, and the vibrations sent Ichigo's eyes rolling into the back of his head. His hands clutched at her hair, but soon, he relaxed back against the pool deck once Rukia slid the warm wetness along his erection, ready to return the pleasurable favor. She worked his arousal, sliding her tongue along the Ichigo's length, twisting the angle of her mouth to hit every sensitive spot. Her tongue swirled around the bulged tip, flicking him right under the crook of the head, causing Ichigo to groan out loud. Rukia watched him, her eyes piercing into his while she took in his whole length again, and Ichigo's toes curled by the sheer sensuality of her actions.

He was ready to erupt and Ichigo struggled to control himself, but Rukia could read his body better than him. Wordlessly, the encompassing warmth from her mouth disappeared, and Ichigo opened his eyes to see a naked Rukia hovering above his body, her hand wrapped around him, stroking him. His heart pounded in his ears, ready to become one with Rukia. He wanted her to possess him, and in turn, he would claim her as his. Ichigo didn't mind that she held the control because he wanted to return the favor by lasting as long as a lover should to please her. After all they had been through, Rukia deserved it.

With an assuring smile, Rukia lowered herself upon Ichigo, letting him fill her tightness with his length. She couldn't help but match his moans, and she enthusiastically began to rock her hips in a steady rhythm. Ichigo put a hand on her tiny waist, steadying her as she rode him and granting him something steady to hold onto so he could meet her thrusts, plunging himself deeper within Rukia, losing himself to her. Her walls tightened when she felt him move on his own accord, enthusiastically meeting her hips as he pounded in her, the juicy warmth infinitely better than anything else he could have ever imagined.

Straining to sit up, Rukia pulled Ichigo towards her, her once bouncing breasts now pressed against his bare chest and her arms wrapping around his neck. They became one, moving together in harmonious rocking, a mix of kisses, thrusting, legs, juices, and mind-numbing sensations. Rukia bit onto his thick shoulder, trying to surpress her growing shrieks of passion, unable to get closer to Ichigo without melting into him.

"Don't stop," pleaded Rukia, when Ichigo's feverish movements ceased.

Keeping himself encased between her legs, Ichigo flipped them over so he hovered above the smaller girl. Inhaling her lips, suckling on them roughly, Ichigo pushed himself deeper than the previously thought possible. Rukia's nails raked across his back, making him thrust with more abandonment, his brain unable to comprehend anything besides continuing the motions that made the girl under him scream. She choked him with her walls, and while Ichigo surprised her with his forwardness at fucking her, Rukia knew each desperate thrust had him fighting a leaking dam. Which was fine, since Rukia was ready for release anyway.

She dug her nails into his back, slamming Ichigo's shaking body against hers. She sought for contact through her lips, and finding his mouth, she sighed into it hotly. "Ichigo, come."

He didn't need to be told twice. With a few last throes, Ichigo grunted as his orgasm wrecked his body, rendering him completely useless as Rukia's body slowed its rocking with his, the girl riding out her own sweet wave of carnal bliss. They panted as one, a smile plastered on her face, and Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle himself as he bent down to kiss her. Ichigo felt grateful for his skin, which seemed to be the only thing keeping him from going everywhere at once in a puddle of content hormones.

He stayed inside her, not wanting to leave the moment, but Rukia wriggled out of his grasp, slipping into the pool once more. She submerged her body, cooling herself off after the sex fest, before she swam to the pool desk and lifted herself up a bit to give Ichigo a peck. He stayed sprawled on his back, now a man, steadying his breathing while he gazed up at the starry sky. Reluctantly, Ichigo reached over to grab his boxers, at least to cover his lower half, and checked to see if his "building gram" was still flickering across the street. Instead, all three buildings were lit with all lights on, as if it was a normal working business day. Still laying poolside, Ichigo rested on his side as he checked his watch.

"Do you need to be somewhere more important?" Rukia asked, flicking a bit of water at him. It splashed against his well-sculpted chest and abs, and Rukia couldn't help but relive their romp in her mind. He smiled at her with all the cockiness in the world, secretly knowing that he rocked hers moment before.

Ichigo just shrugged, but his eyes flickered towards the sliding door that led into the penthouse suite. Right on time, the lights flickered on.

"What the hell?!"

Rukia spun around in the water, frozen in fear. Exactly how did Ichigo get access to this place?!

Her immediate reaction was to cover herself with her hands, but she sunk in the water when she stopped treading. Rukia resurfaced, gasping for air, but trying to keep her dignity in front of the intruding company. She blinked the water from her eyes, and they focused on a familiar sight.

"Kaien?!"

"Rukia?!" he barked back. He had a shocked expression on his face, which extended over to a nonchalant Ichigo, who just glared at him from his position along the pool. Kaien was mostly speechless at the fact that the transfer student looked so comfortable only in his skivvies...and Rukia looked absolutely horrified while completely nude in the pool of the penthouse suite of his father's hotel. He watched her scramble for her discarded clothing. "What the fuck do you guys think you're doing?"

Ichigo casually drew his jeans to his waist, purposefully glaring at his opposer and shielding Rukia from view while she struggled to dress herself in her wet, clingy dress. He controlled a television station from his bedroom, created his own school schedule and re-arranged the high school's sprinkler system schedule, hacked a Gibson therefore stopping a major ecological disaster, and convicted two extortionists...a simple background check on the lazy younger brother to the legendarily-scary Shiba sister? No where near a righteous hack.

To prepare for his date with Rukia, Ichigo hacked into the reservation system of the best hotel in Karakura. Upon discovering Kaien's monopoly of the penthouse suite every Friday night, Ichigo thought something may have been up since Rukia had been busy with the da Vinci case for the last month. Plus, the hacker figured he still owed him from his first day of school.

"Kaien, do you know these people?" asked a girl, who made herself known to the silent three.

Fully-dressed, Rukia stepped out to glare at her, some curvaceous blonde she had once tutored. Apparently she wasn't so bright if Kaien managed to get her up to the penthouse suite, a place where he never invited Rukia to, under the guise that their relationship was serious, and he had moved on from his wanton days. Her violet eyes narrowed at the real truth, which slapped her in the face. "Yeah, so who the fuck are you?" she spat.

The girl opened her mouth to respond, clearly offended, but Kaien stepped in front of her. "I thought you were in jail Kuchiki." He looked over at Ichigo, who still had his shirt gripped in his hand, his muscles clearly more pronounced than the Shiba's. "Just because this kid fucked up his life doesn't mean you need to either."

"Well I'd rather be in jail with him than in bed with you," Rukia spat back. She looked at the terrified girl. "You're not missing out on much anyway. He's a bit too self-absorbed to care about anything else but himself."

Kaien smirked down at her. "I'm just busy living life in the real world and not behind a computer."

"And you always did a shitty job at both."

With a last huff, Rukia grabbed Ichigo by the hand and pulled him so they could leave. Kaien strode towards them, not ready to drop the argument. "Just wait, I'm going to call the cops and this time, you'll really end up in jail!" No response. "Kid, she's not worth it!"

Ichigo stopped and whirled around, striding right back into Kaien's face, making the other back up to the edge of the pool. Kaien steadied his lower lip to match Ichigo's deep frown, but with a quick look-over, Ichigo just shook his head before stepping back. "You're the one who's not worth it."

Exhaling, a smile crossed Kaien's face when he knew his safety wasn't threatened. "What? Sad you can't get me with some technological mumbo-jumbo? I'm sure Rukia's been infecting you with her little viruses by now." A demeaning laugh escaped his lips.

In a dark blur, Rukia pushed Ichigo aside and landed a right hook across Kaien's jaw, sending him flying back into the pool with a big splash. "Enjoy the pool on the roof, Kaien. We did," she said and went back to Ichigo's side. Before they stepped inside, Rukia looked at her ex once more. "And be sure your sister's going to hear about this."

* * *

**A/N:** uhm. yeah. i really have been wanting to try lemon for the longest time. i'm glad i actually went through with it, but i don't know if i'll be trying it again...too much thinking, of the pervvy kind. i just hoped it went well.


End file.
